Aryan Kumar Bhattacharjee
Parvati Sharma
RATTU AND POORIE’S ADVENTURES IN HISTORY: 1857 by Parvati Sharma Puffin Books, 2019, 112 pp., 299
November 2019, volume 43, No 11

The book is an extraordinary example of how a carefully structured narration of history can be rousingly interesting as well as evidently informative. In an age when science and economics are increasingly corroding the value that history is perceived to add to our lives, what is important beyond all else is to remind ourselves that we stand today on the shoulders of so many who laid us before themselves in the past. Thus, Pavitra Sharma’s true success lies in her contribution to engage a new generation of readers and thinkers with a subject that contains lessons on how one must live more than any other, and in remembrance of those whose valiance enables our existence in comfort.

The plot revolves around a young girl Rattu who has the magical power to realize her wishes instantly. As she carelessly wishes one day for someone to defend her against her elder sister Poorie, Rani Lakshmibai and Jhalkari Bai appear before her; what follows is Sharma’s masterful interweaving of Rattu’s immediate problems and memorable stories of the historical figures. Rattu’s encounter with bullies is contrasted with Azimullah Khan and Nana Sahib’s struggle with the Company in their [Khan’s and Sahib’s] own voices, increasing the authenticity of the narrative manifold. Bahadur Zafar II’s removal from the Red Fort is explored through Rattu’s grandfather’s moving out from his old house to come to stay with Rattu and Poorie increasing our sympathies for Zafar in imagining how much suffering he endured if we ourselves are so inconvenienced when shifting houses. This connecting with the historical figures not on an academic level through text-books but rather on a personal level in comparing their problems with our own is what drives the plot and makes the book so special.

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