Review: Victory Colony 1950

Bhaswati Ghosh’s Victory Colony, 1950, is a portrait of resilience and a testament to humanity. The novel set in eastern India in the aftermath of the partition is essentially the story of refugees. But it is also much more than that. It is a tale of finding home, warmth and love in the most adverse of conditions. Bereft of the home they left behind, the refugees struggle to build something of their own, all the while tackling the label attached to them and the weight it carries.

There is much scope to turn the novel into a harrowing and haunting tale, but Ghosh subverts it to a heartwarming story of resilience, hope and courage, all the while remaining true to what she intended to portray. Triggered memories and bouts of madness give us subtle glimpses into the trauma felt by the characters. Instead of agony taking over, the focus is on their acts of overcoming these painful reminiscences. Poverty, loss, death and grief take the back seat as the people in the camp collectively come together to hope, love and forget.

We read and hear stories of refugees, the crisis that triggers an exodus; we watch in horror as people are displaced from their lands, robbed of their livelihoods and snatched away from their loved ones. Likewise, the stories of partition are aplenty, recounted every year at the respective commemorative days. What we fail to do is empathize and recognize. Victory Colony, 1950, gives those nameless and faceless entities an identity and humaneness that we often willingly fail to perceive.

~ Karthika Sindhu, The Bangalore Review

Despite the grim, existential backdrop of the partition, the novel brings to life the true spirit of humanism and resilience which kept the hopes of the characters alive. The small acts of kindness – Firdous Chachi and her husband protecting Amala and her brother in their village in East Pakistan and helping them with a safe passage to Calcutta, Chitra Mashi helping the girls at the camp to take their first step towards financial independence, Manas and his friends working relentlessly to improve lives of people at the camp – were chronicled with the love and perfection of a miniaturist. Together, these acts try to stitch back the torn canvas of a city with tenderness and care.

The timing of the novel couldn’t have been more topical. As the rise of intolerance and divisive political propaganda is pushing India and many other countries around the world to crossroads, we need more stories such as this to help us look back through the prism of history and learn from the fault lines of our past.

~ Siddhartha Banerjee, Saaranga

…We get to see what it means to be a refugee in Calcutta in the immediate aftermath of Partition: the enormous struggle of re-building lives from scratch in refugee camps and colonies (while facing the hostility of the native “ghotis” of the city for being unwelcome “bangals” from the other side of the border); the yearning for the land forcibly left behind in East Bengal; the victimisation of utterly vulnerable women even as others of their brethren gain a new agency through employment.

All these have actually been the major themes of Bangla Partition fiction. Ghosh’s novel can be easily placed in that tradition.

~ Rituparna Roy, Scroll

The book is strongest in its depictions of the resilience of the refugees who have staked their claim to the city. Its rich descriptions of food and the subtle differences between the cuisines of East and West Bengal are delightful to read. Not a page goes by without a mention of food, whether it is a humble snack of roasted chickpeas or an elaborate wedding feast comprising three kinds of fish preparations, mutton and chicken curries with the ever-present luchi.

Ghosh’s book is a valuable addition to Partition literature focused on the experience of people from the Bengal region, such as Sunil Gangopadhyay’s Purbo-Paschim and Hasan Azizul Huq’s Agunpakhi, among others.

Ghosh, a writer and translator who lives in Canada, has previously translated into English Somendranath Bandyopadhyay’s Bengali book My Days With Ramkinkar Baij , does a fine job in bringing alive the tensions of incipient nationhood and how ordinary lives are caught in the crossfire. A book set against the backdrop of historical events allows us to read deeper meanings in the current political circumstances. As nations harden their stance on immigrants and close their borders to those seeking asylum, the book is a stark reminder of how history is repeated and the legacy of violence continues.

~ Rihan Najib, The Hindu Business Line

A novel steeped in history and a deep sense of place, Victory Colony, 1950 is a story about resilience and self-empowerment, two qualities needed for survival when faced with unspeakable tragedy.  but also ultimately about the East Bengali refugees’ inexhaustible generosity, solidarity, and dignity. What’s more, reading Ghosh’s novel in August 2021 as another cruel humanitarian disaster unfolds in Afghanistan, was a strong reminder of the need for stories that bring the focus back to the individual human beings caught in the maelstrom of history.

~  Andreina Romero, New Canadian Media