SANATAN BY SHARANKUMAR LIMBALE (TRANSLATED FROM THE HINDI TRANSLATION OF THE MARATHI NOVEL BY PAROMITA SENGUPTA)

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BOOK NAME: SANATAN

AUTHOR NAME: SHARANKUMAR LIMBALE (TRANSLATED FROM THE HINDI TRANSLATION OF THE MARATHI NOVEL BY PAROMITA SENGUPTA)

GENRE: HISTORY, POLITICAL FICTION

PUBLISHER: PENGUIN INDIA




There comes a time in everyone’s lives when they get to discover eye-opening details about their own people or place or language or country which will completely shift their perspective for the better. It can be anything—maybe a newspaper article read in a tea stall, a friendly conversation with a neighbour, a clip from an underrated movie no one knew existed or maybe a book. A book like Sanatan! 


Sanatan is a powerful and intriguing title which had my attention from the very beginning of its release. Getting shortlisted for the JCB Prize 2024 only increased my determination to get to it stronger. I went into it after reading about the author without any preconceptions about the book. I knew it had to have harrowing details because the author’s works were primarily Dalit literature. And to no surprise, this book has definitely become one of my top reads last year.


My knowledge of the Indian caste system is considerably basic, to say the least. But to learn about it in great depth starting from the Puranas explaining people’s hierarchy based on their caste is my first. I did not know there existed a difference between Vedic (Aryan) and non-Vedic Hindus, to start with. I didn't know the subtle difference in the strategies of the East India Company and the ‘divide and rule’ British regime over India. I didn't know every celebrated ruler ever was once a casteist irrespective of their religion.


This book speaks about the atrocious crimes committed by the upper-class Hindus against the Mahars in pre-independent India, many of whom chose to convert to other religions out of compulsion even though they didn't want to betray their own. Though this book says, it is about the story of Bhimnak and Sidnak, they only appear for a short while. It touches upon the lives of many without one particular protagonist, while the antagonist is the caste divide and hatred looming in people’s hearts. The translation isn't very smooth and neither does it use any fancy terminologies, but the story will speak for itself. In a historical context, this book stands tall and unbeatable. 


The ending however, felt a little redundant and unfulfilling because the book should have ended with the disclosure of Manik Mahar’s story. But it is an important book to understand the history of the Indian caste system, an unmissable read on the agonising lives of Mahars, and a book that doesn't discriminate against humans unlike humans themselves. 



This is a part of BlogchatterA2Z2026 challenge

#penbooksandscalpel


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