Book Review: There's Gunpowder in the Air by Manoranjan Byapari

Title: There's Gunpowder in the Air
Author: Manoranjan Byapari
Publisher: Westland Publishers
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4.7/5 stars

Manoranjan Byapari's "There's Gunpowder in the Air" is astonishingly suspenseful, raw and breathtakingly amazing. Earlier I read his autobiography in Bangla and it was an equally amazing experience.

This real life story is set in the seventies which was a time of serious upheaval and a state of conflict and confusion was spread all over Bengal. Amid the tension the forces which tried to wage a civil war against the people in power, among them the Naxalites played probably the major role. The Naxalbari Movement was successful not only in igniting the fire of protest among the general public of bengal but also in gathering the people who were till now, at the periphery of the social circle.

Our author Manoranjan Byapari was born in Barishal district of Bangladesh. His family migrated to West Bengal when he was three. They were first resettled in Bankura at the Shiromanipur Refugee Camp and later they were forcefully shifted to Gholadoltala Refugee Camp of South 24 Parganas where they lived till 1969.

Byapari left the house at the age of fourteen in search of job and visited many places in India. At the age of twenty-four he came into contact with famous labour activist Shankar Guha Niyogi and was sent to jail where he learned to read and write.

Why am I telling you all this? Becuase it is in one such jails the story of 'There's Gunpowder in the Air' begins.

The story centers around five Naxal activists who are planning a jailbreak. When the jailer Bireshwar Mukherjee came to know about it he decides to send a thief named Bhagoban as a mole among them.

Will they be able to succeed in their masterplan?

To know this you have to go through the work.

My Take:

Manoranjan Byapari is a master storyteller and it is quite evident from the way he has developed the story with utmost care and attention to details. Translator Arunava Sinha has done an equally commendable job in preserving the quality of Byapari's writing intact in the translation. The use of colloquial words and expressions makes the reading far more enjoyable.

Overall, it was an amazing reading experience. I give this work 4.7 stars. I highly recommend this book to all the readers.

Happy Reading