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Lambi Asida

Lambi Asida
A Manipuri novel written by P Joychandra, published by Kumarjit Singh on behalf of Writers' Association Ningthoukhong in 2001, price Rs 60/-, page 130. Cover illustrated by Konthoujam Pabitra Singh.
Reviewed by: Konsam Kulladhwaja

Plot: On the top of a hill there was a charity home. An old man called Kumar, the chief of the Home pays homage to a stone image of a man at the premises of the charity home in the first chapter. A boy called Sidam asked him why he is paying homage to the idol everyday, offering teardrops and incense sticks. The old man narrated the story to the boy that stretched back to 60 years. The story was centred around Imphal city. Gopal Babu, a rich man employed a young man called Gautam as a driver giving him facility of free food and shelter in his house. Gopal Babu had a son and a daughter called Binot and Surmila. Apart from Gautam, Amuba, Kumar and Chaoba were also employed in the same house as workers. Gautam and Surmila were in love. The love bond between the two got more intense as day, months went by. On the other hand Kumar wanted to woo Surmila away from Gautam. While he approached her Surmila refused saying that he is regarded as her own elder brother. In order to win Surmila, Kumar planned a secret plot, in consultation with Chaoba. While Gautam was out of station they wrote a demand letter of Rs One lakh making the letter look as if written by Gautam and gave it to Gopal. While Gopal went to hand over the money to the unidentified men, Kumar's party shot him dead. After the demise of his father Binot was provided misleading information by Kumar that Gautam could be the killer. So they planned to kill Gautam. One day during Yaoshang festival Binot and Kumar invited Gautam to a sight seeing programme. They went to Maring Khul. After boozing they quarelled on the issue of Gopal Babu's death. As the quarrel took shape of a fight Gautam fell to a gorge. After some time Surmila was in serious condition and dying day by day. At this juncture Kumar avoided the hope of winning Surmila's hand and left the house. Choaba wrote a letter telling all the truths about the plot of killing Gopal. Gautam came out in the guise of a priest. He came to know that Surmila was death. When Kumar's gang kidnapped a girl named Devala, Binot's fiancee and held her for ransom, Gautam snatched her and took her to the parents. Later all realised that Devala was the sister of Gautam. Their parents were killed in the Second World War and they were separated by fate. In the last meeting Kumar and his party were never considered by Gautam as enemy. But Gautam was shot to dead by Kumar. In the Kumar became a good man and established a charity home. So ended the novel. Kumar handed over Sidam the charge of chief and died peacefully.

Characterization: Kumar, the villain was a round character. At the last stage of his life he became the leader of a charity home doing service for the welfare of mankind. There was a certain weakness in the character of Binot. After the death of his father he could not realize who would be the murderer. Kumar's gang could easily convince him that Gautam could be the murderer. On the other hand Surmila never believes on it. Who were good and who were not she knew well. She could never accept that Gautam would be the murderer. Amuba, a minor character in the novel is a symbol of innocence.

Theme: Love of mankind would be the theme of this novel. Gautam could become a great man because of his love towards friends and relatives. He had no enemy. Due to his idea of behaving with kindness towards enemy, he is regarded as guru by Kumar, the chief of the Ashram. The romantic affairs of Gautam and Surmila are quite gripping. The novelist's objective is not showing the romance. He highlights it as a part of his novel.

Technique: Flash back technique is used while narrating the incidents. The whole plot of the novel is a flash back incident narrated by Kumar, the old chief of the charity. Time and again description of scenes and thoughts are presented. Sometime the descriptions seem to be poetic and sometimes cinematic. It would be praiseworthy to bring out a novel now-a-days while the Manipuri novel is unproductive.


Courtesy: The Sangai Express

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