Cracking India: A Novel

In Lahore, a city that has welcomed differences and encouraged variety, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus have mixed without incident. After the Partition, the dangers of alliance permanently stamp the mark of change and entire families begin to disappear overnight. In agonizing stages, Sidwha relates this tragic account through Lenny's eyes. And it is that vision, with glimpses of violence flashing around the periphery, that ultimately alerts Lenny to the shape of the future. The juxtaposition of family life and national chaos outlines an insider's interpretation of daily routine and a whole country spinning out of control. Peopled with eccentric characters and quirky personalities, one of the most romantic and beloved is Lenny's beautiful and desirable Ayah. Ultimately, the abrupt disappearance of that Ayah, who has been kidnapped by nefarious characters, is central to the theme of this carefully wrought tale. All sense of harmony and continuity is abruptly shattered by the miasma of violence that seeps under closed doors at night like a poisonous invisible fog. This book is a stunning reminder of the nature of impermanence, "collateral damage" in the form of a loving Ayah, whose lovely spirit is virtually destroyed along with Lenny's innocence.


Beautiful and tragic, Cracking India   June 10, 2006
Charles G. Fry (Madison, WI)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This tragic story is very personal, as told by a young girl, Lenny Sethi (possibly autobiographical?) living in the Punjab region of northwest India during the few years prior to and after the partition of India. History is full of such terrible stories and horrible truths, but Cracking India has a very familial impact, and completely feminine perspective. We are allowed to become part of the extended family that comprises Lenny's young life. There is a comfortable mix of Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Parsees, and Christians prior to the partition, and Bapsi Sidhwa immerses us completely in that unique and unusual world. What a fragile, terrible facade it turned out to be.

Sidhwa does not try to inform us why people are so often so terrible to each other. Is she suggesting that no such understanding is possible? She shows that people live through, but often not beyond, such events. Cracking India is very compelling and unique, completely engaging, and excruciatingly real. I found this story to be completely believable, as the story of a young girl told through her adult perspectives. A completely different world was mine for a brief time in reading Cracking India, and for all its terrors, I am glad I was there. Highest recommendation.


Beautiful.   August 12, 2004
A. F. Naromu (USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

A beautifully written novel. Sidhwa's lilting writing style makes one wonder what lies ahead in the novel. It's joyous and captivating, but also chilling at the same time. "Cracking India" is one of those books that you should just read at night time while curled up in your blankets, sipping a latte or coffee. It cozies up the mind and it is absorbing. Because of the way it flows, I thoroughly enjoyed my read.

However, a flaw that I detected was that Sidhwa's book does not have a glossary of terms with English translations of some Indian/Pakistani words and phrases in the book. And also around Chapter 12, the novel starts dragging in redundancy a little bit. It does pick up some speed on Chapter 18, as you approach the climax. Nonetheless, "Cracking India" is still an enjoyable fiction. It is wonderful to witness many occurrences of the splitting of India through Lenny's eyes and experiences. There are, of course, many other goings-on that make the novel even more interesting. I particularly found the story of Ayah (and Hamida too) a haunting example of human betrayal.

What more can be said? I enjoyed the book.



A world torn apart as seen by a child.   January 19, 1999
Donna Davis Idrees (bbwmor2luv@hotmail.com) (Atlanta, GA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Ms. Sidhwa does a wonderful job of presenting the tensions that exist to this day on the indian subcontinent. I do however feel that she doesn't aptly portray the lives of poor or middle class indians. Probably because the minute percentage that make up the ruling and wealthy classes on the subcontinent are out of touch with the reality that exists in their own country. The only poor people they know are their servants (often unpaid child labor from their tenant farmer's families) and its not like they bother to sit down to tea and ask about their day.

While I saw a previous review that accused Ms. Sidhwa of being racist and inaccurate, I have to disagree. During the time of the partition there were murderers on ALL sides. Muslims slaughtered Hindus...Hindus slaughtered Muslims. While each side bickered about who attacked first, thousands continued to be murdered. I feel Ms. Sidwha presents the both sides impartially.

If only the murders of 1947 could be isolated incidents, but they are not. There is an aftermath that follows such brutal acts. Take for example Nusreen, a woman from a middle class muslim punjabi family. In 1947 she, her two sisters, two brothers, parents and cousins were forced to flee their village because hindu raiders had come to kill all muslims. They didn't have time to pack belongings or take their savings. While migrating to Pakistan her brothers were murdered, leaving the family with nothing for dowries, no means to provide such, and only an old feeble father. As a result she and her sisters were forced into marriages far beneath where they would have been arranged. While Nusreen and her sisters were beautiful young women, respectable and mannered, they were married to brothers who were considered the village bullies. It was the only match that could be obtained without dowries. While that may be a tragedy, and her life was difficult, her influence affected all of her children in positive ways. Her husband may have been a lowly dude wallah but her sons grew up to be doctors, engineers, lawyers. Nusreen, a poor village woman in the punjab and also my mother-in-law, is a woman for whom I have the greatest respect and love.

I hold Ms. Sidwha in the highest esteem for portraying accurately the events on the subcontinent and the cultural differences between the various religious sects but I feel she, like all people from her class have no real understanding of the other 95% who inhabit the subcontinent.

There were far greater tragedies that occurred in 1947 than a rich girl losing her Ayah.