Hiranmaya

When I finished my 14-day self-quarantine in Burlington, Vermont, I immediately drove to the store to browse for a much-needed reminder of the humanity that exists inside of all of us. I found that reminder in ​A Burning​ by Megha Majumdar. In her deeply-moving debut novel, Majumdar shares the story of three different characters: Jivan, Lovely, and PT Sir. All three of these characters are seeking to rise in life in some way of their own. For PT Sir, it is in politics. For Lovely, it is in Bollywood. For Jivan, a Muslim-Indian from the slums, it is in class standing. When Jivan sees first-hand the bombing of a train in which over 100 civilians are killed, she finds herself entangled in the post-attack discussion on social media. After a controversial Facebook post, she is suddenly considered the top suspect by the authorities. As the story unfolds, Jivan’s fate very quickly slips out of her own hands and, overtime, into the hands of both PT Sir and Lovely. 

This is a story about determination, passion, love, hate, hope, oppression, politics, justice and power. It is about finding light in the darkest corners and about those who wield the power to bring that darkness back. It is a page-turning, seething debut novel about just how human we are…or aren’t. 

A Burning ​rolls forcibly onward like a freight train, making the reader laugh, cry, and gasp in the same sitting. This timely, 270-something page story could have easily been stretched to fill 1,000 pages, but I do not think it would have been delivered with the same ferociousness as it is in its true form. Whether it was PT Sir’s self-criticism, Lovely’s lightheartedness and humor, or Jivan’s determination, Majumdar had me entrenched in these characters like they were my closest companions. 

My favorite aspect of this novel was the depth of each and every word that Majumdar sprawled onto the page. Everything was written so simply yet so beautifully–especially the descriptions of food! The way in which PT Sir’s wife’s milk pastry crumbles onto her dish, or how Lovely spots pastries soaked in syrup from across the road, literally made my stomach growl as I flipped through the pages of this thriller. The night after I began reading ​A Burning,​ I actually tried Indian food from a local restaurant for the first time ever. I felt so immersed in these characters’ lives and yet I still wasn’t immersed to satisfaction.

In such turbulent times as these, ​A Burning w​ as a heartfelt reminder of our humanity. While the book wasn’t the happiest novel I’ve ever read, the poetic humanity on each and every page kept me smiling at more moments than one would think. Majumdar gave off big Tolkien vibes in the way in which she so wonderfully intertwined love and grief, tears and joy. Read this book if only for the promise that you will be a better human for doing so. 

Randy was always indulging in film and television far more than he was in books as a child. He grew up with a father who only read Stephen King and whose favorite quote came from his favorite movie, Shawshank Redemption: “Get busy living, or get busy dying” – a cornerstone to his life and Randy’s. Carrying his father’s taste in stories, Randy spent his teenage years searching for stories that left him feeling like a better and more well-rounded person–like he was living. Randy believes that stories are what makes us human, and that without them we don’t have much life to our lives at all. That’s why Randy’s all-time favorite story is Lord of the Rings. 

Randy works in the Vermont state parks system and is studying Parks, Recreation and Tourism at the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT.