Bhulan Kaanda: The Amnesia Tuber

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There is an accidental killing in a forest-tribal village in Chhattisgarh. The Police Inspector is on his way to investigate. The village-constable, riding on the pillion of the Inspector’s motorbike, suddenly cautions him to avoid a particular spot on the path where grows the Bhulan Kaanda, the tuber whose contact, he claims, induces instant amnesia and makes the victim confused regarding the right path, making him go around and round. The accidental killing throws up an existential conflict between the traditional village system of justice and the formal State court of law. The accused, as also the entire village, find themselves making several rounds to the court in the town to resolve a matter that they had smoothly resolved long back. The amnesia-inducing tuber becomes a metaphor for the institutions of the Government.

The story, riveting as it unfolds, dramatizes a subject that has been rarely examined: the post-colonial discord in countries like India between the traditional structures of local governance and the State’s institutions, inherited from alien rulers of the past. Once you start reading the story, it is hard to put this book down. Later, it lingers in your mind raising important questions begging for answers.

Bhulan Kaanda is bound to emerge as a unique novel in Hindi Literature. - Vishnu Khare