This is another book club book, for which I should have a tag on this blog. But while I figure that out, let me tell you about A Burning, which is the tragic tale of Jivan, who is falsely accused of aiding a terrorist attack, and two other characters whose fates are tied with hers.

A Burning starts with a terrorist attack. Jivan writes a scathing comment on the government’s handling on the situation, which soon catches the eye of the authorities and lands her in prison, where she tries her best to have her story told because she believes that if everyone knew the truth, they would believe her to be innocent. PT Sir is a physical fitness teacher at a school Jivan used to go to – one day, he stops by a rally and somehow seizes the opportunity to fix a microphone. This, oddly, becomes the start of an association with the party, and a chance at a better life. Lovely is a hijra dreaming of being an actress. Jivan teaches her English, and she could be an important witness but as we see, Lovely is more preoccupied with her dream than anything else.

While the story does tie the three characters together at the end, for the most part, their stories are unconnected. Jivan focuses on her life before the attack and her life in prison and for me, there is a real pathos running through her whole story, as you realise that the odds were stacked against her from birth. PT Sir is focused on this new opportunity presented to him, though he does think of Jivan as an ungrateful student when he hears about the news (I did wish this part tied more into the trial). And Lovely, though she can be a big part of the trial, is pretty much focused on her life and her dreams.

Of the three characters, my favourite was Jivan. I think because of the nature of her story, I started rooting for her from the start and as I discovered her past, I started to wish even more for a better future for her. Surprisingly, PT Sir wasn’t as unlikeable as I thought; while he’s the first character to have his morals compromised, I thought that Majumdar did a good job showing how his seemingly small decisions have big ramifications and tied him even more deeply to the Party.

Perhaps because the three character’s stories are largely unconnected, the book chooses to present a chapter from their POV in turn. This helped to keep the story moving, although I have to admit that I found the book hardest to put down at the end, when the fate of Jivan became inextricably linked with the PT Sir’s and Lovely’s. I do wonder if we could have gotten this sense of connectedness earlier, but I also think it’s important for us to see the stakes by following PT Sir and Lovely’s journey before the trial.

Overall, I thought this was a powerful book. A Burning has a laser focus on the problems with religion and politics in modern India and uses its three characters to explore the connection between longing and morality. I am glad my book club chose this as one of the books to read because I may not have discovered the book otherwise!

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