Obayed Haq's Bangla novel, Arkathi, is almost a bildungsroman tale filled with adventure and self-reflection. In true bildungsroman fashion, where the protagonist progresses into adulthood with room for growth and change, a bulk of Haq's novel talks about the spiritual journey that an orphan, Naren, takes through a forest in order to mature, and comes out on the other side to realise a community's deep, hidden truth.

Arkathi is situated at the tail-end of the 19th century, somewhere between 1870 and 1890. British colonisers had, by then, invaded the gardens of Assam and Sylhet in order to cultivate tea, and needed labourers to clear the jungles and make way for tea plantations. However, the back-breaking nature of the work meant that none of the locals were interested in such a laborious task. Therefore, the British set out to employ several cheap labourers from the hunger-stricken communities of West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Chota Nagpur. The indigenous populations of these areas were encouraged to join in the work, and those employed to bring these indigenous workers to the tea estates were named 'Arkathi'.

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Sad men behaving badly

The story begins with the advent of the railway in Bengal, which intertwines with the lives of Naren's parents. Naren's father is memorably gifted a coat by a British settler, Larings Shaheb, and this coat changes the very fabric of Naren's father's being. Although it might seem like a naïve gift at first, it aids in the transformation of Naren's father into a cheap mimicry of the colonisers. He takes up liquor, like the "shaheb babus", and develops a drinking problem. Naren's mother, who had otherwise been happy in her conjugal life up to that point in time,  is deeply affected by this. The situation escalates, and Naren's father's alcoholism leads him to become a domestic abuser. Thus, the mother spends her time in quiet disarray, cursing the modern railway for her ill-fortune. One day, unable to bear the brunt of her husband's abuse, she takes her own life under the tracks of the same railway that had changed her life for the worse. Naren is thus left to fend for himself.

For such a tragic character, however, nature provides a quiet solace—the Ashwath trees that he climbs and jumps off of become his family. Haq provides a vivid depiction of the nature of Bengal with the various flora and fauna that the village dwellers encounter in their day-to-day lives. It is only by chance that Naren meets an Arkathi, and consequently becomes one himself.

When thinking of the figure of an Arkathi, men who essentially trick other vulnerable individuals to work for the "Company", Naren seems like a mismatched fit. However, it is the novel's intention to present us with a kind-hearted and brave character who is a victim of his circumstances. It re-establishes the notion that power and dominance can take several forms, even that of an inherently harmless child; one's mind wanders back to the "harmless" railway that had shattered the life of Naren's family.

Naren's mother, who had otherwise been happy in her conjugal life up to that point in time, is deeply affected by this. The situation escalates, and Naren's father's alcoholism leads him to become a domestic abuser.

The novel very subtly disapproves of this ideology of dominance. The Bangali characters are at the forefront of the narrative, and the story is a treatment of their temperament with this ideological conundrum: Is it better to die of starvation or work for an exploitative and colonial design?

Returning to the theme of bildungsroman, the story comes full circle only when Naren grows up and is able to comprehend the grave nature of the Arkathi scheme. All in all, Arkathi is different from Haq's other works and worth a read for its psychological exploration of dominance and intimate insight into the unexplored history of the Arkathis.

Tasnim Naz is an academician of English Literature at Bangladesh University of Professionals. Her research interests are feminism, motherhood studies, and postcolonial studies. Reach her at tasnimnaz46@gmail.com.