The Patient Assassin

This was not a book I knew about at all until a couple of days ago. The only reason seeing the book recommended by a beloved author Aparna Verma convinced me to pick it up was because the movie about the main historical figure in this story, Sardar Udham released just last week and I found it a very interesting watch. Naturally, I was very curious to know more about the history of the time and was glad to find the audiobook and proceeded to listen to it in a single sitting.

The first thing I have to mention is that the author narrates the audiobook herself and it is very well done and effective. I only later got to know that she is a BBC radio and television presenter, and that experience definitely enhances the quality with which she tells the story. The writing ofcourse helps because it is very deeply emotionally engaging and evocative - especially the events leading up to and the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre are very very heartbreaking to read about but also extremely rage inducing. It's not that I didn't know this event happened - all of us have studied this in our Indian school history books - but it's the callousness and utter absence of any regret or repentance that enraged me, told in the perpetrator's own words. Along with the emotional weight of this story, this book is also very thrilling to read because the author has written it like a spy/investigative novel. I thought this was a perfect example of how well narrative nonfiction can educate us on history while also keeping us as engaged as any well written fantasy or thriller novel.

The book is very much not an exhaustive history of the British Raj but we do get a good enough look at how the empire looked down at the Indian people. Despite knowing atleast some part of history, it's still very difficult to read about how the British destroyed the mainly agriculture based Indian economy, forcibly taking away everyone's lands and making the people destitute; and when they protested, was shocked to see that the lowly Indians weren't happy being subjugated and living as second class citizens in their own country. The personal writings of Michael O'Dwyer and many others of the time clearly showed how much they disdained Indians and would love to just kill whomever they considered disobedient, instead of going through the pesky justice system. The author does try to paint a more fuller picture of O'Dwyer and General Dyer's personalities, showing them as loving and loyal family men, but it's hard for me to sympathize with them because even if Jallianwala Bagh was only one event in their life, that is what defines them for me.

But it's Sardar Udham who is a much more fascinating figure in this book. The movie which I saw does give a brief glimpse into him, but this book goes much deeper into everything that he did in his life which led to his final act of assassination. He is a very charming man who is very good at making friends and convincing people of his cause, which becomes even more important once the massacre completely changes his life, putting him on a revenge course. His story feels like an endless journey which he undertakes because he doesn't know where to stop. At the same time, he also came across as manipulative and self-centered, ready to use and abandon anyone as long as it served his cause. I thought this was a very nuanced portrayal of a man who was irrevocably changed by the horrors he witnessed as well as the various atrocities he experienced, who was so set on his goal of revenge that he probably never took any opportunity to find happiness for himself. While it wasn't always easy to like him as a person, and it feels bad to justify murder, I could never find any fault in his desire to kill the people who were responsible for the massacre in Amritsar.

While I do love reading books featuring historical events, most of my reading in the genre have been limited to American history for the past many years, so I found it very heartening to back to a story about India's history and a person who's relentless pursuit of vengeance must have brought some sort of peace to the countless people who lived through those horrific times. I would definitely recommend this book to any history nerds, but also to readers who might not gravitate towards the genre because this is written like an amazing fiction novel and I'm sure you'll find it a great read. And I would highly recommend the audiobook too because I enjoyed it thoroughly, but non-desi folks might find the numerous names a bit confusing while listening.