“RANI” BY JAISHREE MISRA
PUBLISHER: PENGUIN, 2007
PRICE: RS 350.00

“Rani” the fictionalized biography of the Rani of Jhansi, is the brilliant handiwork of the London-based Jaishree Misra, whose grasp of both history and fiction is admirable. For a writer who hated history as a child, one is happily surprised to see the balanced weaving of fact with fiction in a subtly crafted yet unobtrusive manner by the passionately involved biographer Jaishree Misra. The queen warrior Manikarnica, later to be known as Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, was no ordinary teenager, as destiny’s child, she is shown to be a remarkably strong woman with human desires. The book can provide excellent source-material for a historical epic film on the queen’s life.

As a little girl Manikarnica suddenly finds herself the chosen bride of a much older widower, Raja Gangadhar of Jhansi, but spirited and adventurous that she is by nature, she gives her assent for the union, curious and delighted that she would soon be a queen. The marital bed of roses is only in her imagination as she goes from setback to setback, picking up the pieces that come her way. The book’s sensitive portrayal of the protagonist, makes the book absolutely un-put-down-able. Her childishness gives way to pragmatic wisdom; her intelligence and trust-worthiness makes her husband give her place by his side, and soon hand over the reins of the kingdom to her. From dealing for years with an unconsummated marriage to dealing with the death of her only three month old child, the Rani goes from sorrow to sorrow with pride, resolve and tears shed in private. When she has lemons she quickly makes a lemonade, that is the Rani; she spends little time in self-pity and turns her attention on things within her control and away from those out of her control, the winner in her will die but not whine.

The parallel account of the Englishman, Robert Ellis, runs through the book and one waits with bated breath for the two to come together; there is so much they can offer one another and yet two distinct cultures, colors and countries invisibly stand between them leaving their union unconsummated as well. Finally Robert catches a glimpse of the queen he has been talking to through purdah; it is only page 207 of the 411 page book, that Robert sees the beautiful queen for the first time, and ironically she is exposed to him on the day her husband is being cremated. One wishes that Ms Misra had spent more time on the fictionalized love-story given her lyrical and romantic streak; one also misses the wisdom and companionship the king and queen shared, which could have been added through their dialogue. The queen loves two men, one out of dutiful respect and another with her soul; however, being a strong woman, she resolutely deals with both of them with strength and goes through her adversities with courage. She turns her attention to power and statecraft becomes the de facto ruler of Jhansi. .

The book has an interesting map to present the geographical layout of the region from 1835; but while the queen’s childhood is in Varanasi, the town is conspicuous by its absence on the map; also, Ms Misra’s inability to deal with adverbs has slipped past Penguin editors and it was jarring to find “grovellingly”, “confusingly” “enquiringly” “frustratingly””pacifyingly” ‘frenziedly” etc all over the book. Since the excellent book will surely go into re-print, I hope Penguin drops these awkward expressions and also adds in the missing page no 239.

As an adept writer, Ms Jaishree Misra has, with intelligence and subtlety, depicted the clash between the humanist (to offer shelter to the families of the British who had wronged Jhansi ) at odds with the political leader, both warring in the queeen’s personality until she lets go of one. “She felt the need to sit down as waves of fatigue washed all over her. How many people should she fight in this wretched matter? People whom she loved and trusted…Angry confused thoughts coursed through her head… if it were indeed true that the welfare of the British lay at variance to those of her own people, then did she really have a choice at all? After a long pause, Lakshmibai whispered, her eyes dark against a pale face, “Very well then. It is not for me to go against the wishes of my people…feeling wretched to the pit of her stomach, Lakshmibai retraced her steps…”

It is said that life is a comedy for one who thinks and a tragedy for one who feels; Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, had time for neither; she faced life in a pragmatic, principled manner, leaving little room for laughter or tears. As a karmayogi par excellence, here is a woman of substance, a woman of destiny. She did India proud, as has Jaishree Misra, sitting in far off London, yet capturing the beat of an Indian woman’s heart better than many on our soil.

Take a bow, Ms Misra, somebody is clapping.