A Place Within: Rediscovering India

From acclaimed literary author M.G. Vassanji "A Place Within" is part memoir, part history as Vassanji attempts to rediscover his roots in India by touring the entire country seeking stories and connecting them with the past.

The book is very deep, and someone with little to no basic historical background in South Asia will undoubtedly find the content too difficult to follow. Though Vassanji does not explicitly state it, the purpose of his book is to help educate westerners about the diversity of India, the "essential historical quality of India, that of tolerance and flexibility." Vassanji vehemently rejects the social contructs of race and religion that pervade Indian societies, muslims, hindus, sikhs, etc... Vassanji himself was born and raised as a Muslim in East Africa, and his journey to India is almost like a pilgrimage as he attempts to reconnect with his ancestry, part of the Khojas of the Gujarat.

And in fact throughout the book, there are stories that showcase the great historical diversity of India. From the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, to Sufi orders during the Mughal reign. Again, not explicity stated but Vassanji's account is revisionist in its post-colonial contextualization of past events. Of the mutiny in 1857, the role of the British Raj, and the Partition of 1948.

I especially enjoyed the sections of the book discussion architecture. To me, the descriptions of the Indo-Sacracenic - the mixture of hindu and muslim architechtural styles, is symbolic of much of the fusion of cultures that is India.

And yet, Vassanji brings us back down to reality with the terrible stories of communal violence between groups. We often hear about the violence, the dislocation, the terrible loss of life, yet words do not do justice to the extent of suffering of the people. Often spurred on by the demagoguery of nationalistic leaders, Vassanji writes: "Communal violence is set off sometimes in the simplest of ways... some fellowes drive a pig into a Muslim area... some others slaughter a cow and dump the remains in a Hindu neighbourhood." (p. 256).

One of the more interesting sub-altern facts I learned was the existence of Jews in India, the Manipuri Jews. Or the Sidis, African Indians who immigrated from Africa many centuries ago. The monolithic image of Hindustan is an inadequate description of the incredible multicultural and diverse character of one of the great civilizations in the world.

One cannot bring up the history of India without discussing the role of the caste system or "varnas" that pervades the entire society. I felt that Vassanji did not explore enough the nuances of the caste both from a historical and its contemporary role. It is obviously one of the most complicated aspects of the social fabric of Indian society, yet it remains the most illusive. Vassanji himself admits that open discussion about the caste is still taboo.

Overall, I felt Vassanji has done a wonderful job connect the past with the present on this incredible journey to rediscover his roots in the country of his ancestors. While over 400 pages, and filled with names and locations not obvious to the average reader, it may require more than one reading to absorb the incredible detail.