Kala Pahad(Kala Pahar)

Just finished this book(Hindi/Mewati).

My comments :
It's a good book. Its climax reminds me of the movie
Marhi Da Deeva, when Raj Babbar starts hallucinating
before his death. In fact, even though the movie and
this book track two completely different themes, a lot
of characters and incidents can be correlated. Character
played by Kanwaljeet Singh comes pretty close to
Babu Khan in the book. Cutting of the tree in the movie,
where the Marhi is placed has its counterpart in this
book when Babu Khan cuts a tree at DadaKhanu.
And if there is a movie to be made on this book ever,
its central character Salemi, in my mind, will be
best played by Pankaj Kapur.



Here is a translation of the blurb :
Based in the region of Mewat. Mewat region consists of
segments from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.
Mewatis had fought the Mugal emperor Baabar and
they have preserved India's "Mixed Heritage" till
today. "Kala Pahad" (which translates to "Black Mountain")
is not only the title of this novel, but it also symbolises
Mewat's geographical and cultural identity. The
author is not only attracted towards the historic
and heroic figure of Mewat, Hasan Khan Mewati,
but envelopes the shadows of the Ayodhya
tragedy as well. He gives the creative expression
to the damage done to the tolerant culture of
Mewat by this tragedy. Importance of the novel
lies in the fact that it allows people on the fringes
of the society to play the central role. Though
a "Dalit", author is free from any "Dalit Syndrom/Complex"
in the treatment of his characters.
----translation of the blurb ends here----

For more about people from Mewat(Meos),
read this.
This book has been quoted in another book on Meos :
Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins By Shail Mayaram