Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War

I admit my ignorance on the role of Indians during the Second World War. I vaguely recalled how Congress was negotiating with British on the issue of support for the world war and the Indian National Army in North East. Thanks to a friend posted in North East I had some more insights into the success the Japanese army had gained in the North East.The Farthest Field, has served to fill up the gap of this less spoken and less written part of history. Through the lives of three youngmen who enlisted in the then Indian Army as officers the author tells the story of Indians participation in the Second World War. He informs, it was the largest volunteer force 200,000 in this war. The author builds the story from the Parsi family of Calicut whose members got involved in the war in one way of the other. Written like a non fiction novel the focus on the action where the three youngmen served during the war i.e, Iraq, Africa, Afghanistan, North East and Burma . The author also informs the overall context of the events of the world war which had a bearing on the action in these places.In true journalistic fashion, the author also provides helpful inputs such as role of the Bengal Sappers, induction of Indians as officers by the British and many others. He also brings out the nuances, undercurrents and the political forces at play. The novel is rich in details which are intricately built through the story. The author maintains a dispassionate tone and focusses on the action.The Prologue and Afterword are important chapters of this book. The prologue sets the tone for the book and what the author is seeking to achieve through the story of these three youngmen, (author's relatives). He also explains what " farthest field' means. The Afterword, elaborates the impact of Indian involvement in the war. It explores a wide range of issues, such as modernisation of the Indian Army, how melding of different castes in the Indian Army made freedom inevitable, the negative impact of quick demobilisation during partition and a host of broader issues. Many of the points can be inferred from the book. A number of others need elaboration. I would think that the Afterword can be elaborated as a bigger essay or can be a book in itself.There are many anecdotes how Dr Kurien of Amul ( reprimanded as 'butter fingers' during training) was with one of the three youngmen in the story, did not enlist in the Indian Army because of his mother, evacuation of Madras Zoo by shooting the lions, tigers, panthers and the single polar bear to name only a few.The language is fluent and fresh, some of the expressions are innovative -" Death is a field from which no one returns. The second death (at the end of the memory of their lives) is the farthest field of all." "News, like everything, travelled slowly to Calicut, though it was the largest town in Malabar." " they ( Parsis) were as numerous as they would ever be, ...., a homeopathic dose for India.."I had read an article some time back by the author in The Brunch where he had informed that he would be brining out his own book on the role of Indians in the second world war, while referring to The narrow road to the deep north in Richard Flanagan's award winning book. I happy that his book has come out.It is truly engrossing. I liked reading this book and hope this book triggers more literature on this forgotten and lesser known aspect of history.

It is not often that one gets to read a book about Indian army and that too of it's role in the WW. As the book says history has always focused upon the western powers fighting the western powers nobody remembers the brown soldiers of the forgotten army. I found the book engrossing, the prose fluid and real - it didn't glorify the protagonists but fleshed them out delicately to make them real and believable. The narrative did sag in between when the technicalities of the war episodes took over but I suppose they were required to build the narrative. ( the one star less here is because of that ).

I knew very little about how India was affected by the Second World War, beyond a general, vague idea of there being a great number of Indian soldiers fighting for the Allied Forces in Europe and Africa. I never knew that Madras had been evacuated, air raid trenches dug there, and that most senior British officials had left the city. Raghu Karnad's book begins with vignettes of Parsi life in Calicut, the home of his mother's maternal family. It traces the journey of his great-uncle Bobby, ( and two of his friends who later become his brothers-in-law) through graduate life and engineering college in Madras, and their enrolment as officers in the army. He describes this as a work of forensic non-fiction, wherein he is able to trace the lives of these family members whom he never knew. It is a deeply personal and moving book, wonderfully researched, and beautifully written. Some phrases move you by their sheer poetry: "The moss-mirror surface of the Beypore gave him no foreboding of what lay ahead; bridges on the Ganga, pontoons on the Euphrates or the ferry across the boiling waters of the Manipur. The decade already hastened towards war, but it was somene else's war, very far away." The futility of war is underlined time and time again, and yet war constantly emerges as one of the most 'successful' ways to resolve conflicts, however costly it may prove to be in human terms. A truly beautiful and tragic book, yet one full of hope and courage.

The sleepy little town in south India on the blurb pleasantly turned out to the place I was born and brought up. I was swept away with nostalgia. Brought the book without knowing the authors geneology, attracted by the title. I have a fascination for British Indian history and of course the WWII like everyone else. The only consolation for our lack of interest and very superficial understanding of modern Indian history is our collective amnesia for so many other epochs of our past. But I think it is changing. Ramachandra Guha is getting company. The book is beautifully paced and written.The prose soars in many parts - this is not a `history book` - effortlessly. No doubt extensive and impeccable research has gone into this work. But the central theme - the story of the three men and the meaning of their lives and the meaning that period holds for all of us and the universal and inevitable tragedy of the second death, of totally erased memory - blazes forth undiminished by grey facts and dates. I found it unputdownable. The part where the story stretches to north Africa from Iraq only on the wings of a third voice while Bobby stays rooted , is the only place I felt the spell lifting. The ending is very moving and the author by his own admission makes a leap of imagination which takes the book clear ly beyond a chronicle. Highly recommended read.

This was a great book about the WWII experience of Indians, which is so far quite understudied. If you are a WWII buff, this would greatly add to your knowledge about the global war.

My father served, amongst other theatres, in Burma and the retreat from Rangoon and then in India. This excellent, well written account gave me a far more complete picture of the events of that time especially from the experience of an Indian officer who understood what was happening to civilians.

I am not Indian, but enjoy reading history from different perspectives. At first I wasn't sure about the author's ability to tell their story since he didn't know the characters personally, yet was telling their story. And, too young to have been there himself. BUT the book is marvelous. Karnad got it all right! This was a part of the war I didn't know about...not talked about much in history books, school or otherwise. Indian men 60 years plus should really enjoy it and I will go out of my way to pass it along. Waiting for Mr Karnad's next book. I live in the US and made a point to read this because of its uniqueness and I wasn't sorry!

Challenging to read but a story that must be told. It would make a great film.

Wonderful read