Aavarana is a 2007 Kannada novel by novelist S.L. Bhyrappa. Aavarana (Sanskrit: आवृ meaning 'to conceal') means enveloping or covering something. This novel deals with the historical character like Mogul Emperor Aurangazeb. Aavarana was sold out even before its release in February 2007.[1] The novel went on to create a record in the Indian literary world by witnessing 10 reprints within five months of its release. Like most of Bhyrappa's novels, Aavarana too generated tremendous debate and discussion. Many prominent intellectuals believe Aavarana dangerously advanced the fundamentalist agenda by tilting at the windmills of history, and that it seeks to divide society on communal lines. On the other hand, the writer's original posit that the Truth[3] needs to be told has connected with the readers that it has seen repeated reprintings. The author has vigorously protested the tag that the book is inflammatory by challenging the reviewers to refute the points made in the book.
It is also pertinent to note that the author anticipated the criticism that the book would receive and has worked in the book, the reasons why books and criticisms should not be banned or suppressed. The novel raises pertinent and searching questions about religion, liberalism and identity and highlights the importance of unshackling oneself from the bonds of false knowledge. The novel was a bestseller in Kannada, Gujarati, Tamil and other vernacular languages. In February 2014, Aavarana was translated into English by Sandeep Balakrishna. Lakshmi, a rebellious, free-spirited and intelligent film-maker, breaks ties with her staunchly Gandhian father to marry Amir, the man she loves. She even agrees reluctantly to Amir's request that she convert to Islam, as a formality and change her name to Razia. However, she is shocked to discover that her husband is not the open-minded, progressive individual he claimed to be. For after marriage, Amir takes his family's side in trying to force her to follow the more rigorous tenets of their faith.
This sets her off on a personal journey into India's history to uncover the many layers of religion, caste and creed. Her quest leads her to the many parallels in the narratives between the past and the present and she gradually finds that though much has changed in Indian society over the centuries, much remains the same. Aavarana stirred a major controversy in Karnataka. There has been accusations that Bhyrappa is a Hindu fundamentalist who wants to divide society on the basis of history, an allegation which Bhyrappa himself anticipates and tries to refute in the novel.[5] U.R. Ananthamurthy, well known in Kannada literature, has criticised Bhyrappa and his works, terming Aavarana as dangerous. He said that Bhyrappa was a debater who "doesn't know what Hindu religion stands for" and "does not know how to write novels".[6] Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Prof Chandrashekhar Patil has referred to Aavarana as the textbook of Chaddi (a slang for RSS cadres).[7] Booker Prize-winning Indian author Aravind Adiga wrote an article in Outlook which also accused Bhyrappa of distorting historical facts.
Sumana Mukherjee, in her review of the book for Mint, wrote: "Aavarana—originally published in Kannada in 2007—is compelling, even convincing. But it is also self-serving, divisive and short-sighted, if not wilfully blind to the pitfalls of chest-thumping majoritarianism. Propaganda, by nature, is seductive; it feeds into half-baked concepts and beliefs to give them shape and brooks little opposition or questioning. This, perhaps, is Aavarana’s greatest failure as a work of literature: It takes no prisoners, offers no room for dissent or doubt." S.L. Bhyrappa has reiterated that something was written in his novel. According to the author, the book is the result of his search for true history. He stated: "I have referred to hundreds of history books before writing the novel. However, if anyone has doubts about the facts can refer to the books I have listed in my book. Out of my interest, I have studied history and my findings have resulted in a creative piece of work. I am fed up with debates and discussions on Aavarana.
Allow me to think on something else". The novel reiterates "if we don't study history, it repeats". ^ Bhyrappa a debater, not a story-teller, says URA Deccan Herald – 28 May 2007 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars To see what your friends thought of this book, To ask other readers questions about Be the first to ask a question about ಆವರಣ [Aavarana] Lists with This Book More lists with this book... review of another edition I discovered Aavarana through the article Rending the veil of historical negationism in India on the IndiaFacts portal. Interestingly, Sandeep Balakrishna, the "writer, columnist, translator, and recovering IT professional" who translated Aavarana from Kannada to English, heads IndiaFacts.Much of the history of the Muslim conquest of India was already familiar to me, so initially I thought that this book was merely polemic. Indeed, I have read some of the references that Bhyrappa cleverly insert
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 next » new topicDiscuss This Book There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »If a tragic love story between two individuals of different religious communities could be interwoven with reality and, most importantly, with the complex subject of India’s controversial history then Aavarana is the best book ever to come up with.History cannot be romanticised without distorting facts but this book seems to have achieved the impossible.This is not a book based “only” on emotional rhetoric or some serious research documentary but is a consummation of a very real life scenario which can be seen all around us which we refuse to acknowledge and our long suppressed history which we were never allowed to see nor do we bother to see it.The real scenario I am talking about is the pitfall of a Hindu-Muslim marriage especially when the woman is Hindu and the India’s history with regards to Islam. Both are controversial issues in our nation.
The imagination of Shri S.L. Bhyrappa is mind boggling as into how seamlessly he knits the figment of his imagination to narrate the truth about 1000 years of Indian history.The book just revolves around the life of Lakshmi the daughter of a social worker who marries Aamir in the zeal of proving her open mindedness and ends up becoming a Muslim called Razia only to discover the ugly side of her relation that love sometimes actually has a religion. Her father opposes the marriage and breaks all contacts with her and goes into isolation.But the most interesting part is how the book proceeds using this story towards India’s history. The author uses the characters to reveal how India’s history was distorted. Through Lakshmi’s(Now Razia) struggle he shows how the atrocities which took place during the Islamic rule of India were suppressed and distorted.Through the life of Lakshmi the author portrays the distortion of the political discourse of India by Marxists, Leftists, Liberals and Intellectuals who brainwash people to believe in a history that never existed and still does not exist.
It also shows how disconnected and ignorant Indians especially the Hindu community are with regards to their history.When Lakshmi(Razia) gets disillusioned from her love it is already too late as her father has passed away and she now is a mother of a grown son. She is now separated from her husband whom she thought would love her unconditionally but he has married another woman much younger his age.Her father who went into isolation did an extensive research on Indian history which she discovers later. It is revealed much later that her father has passed away with nobody informing her. Now the real struggle begins as she takes up her father’s cause of exposing the truth.It is here that the Aavarana or the Veil of illusion is removed from Lakshmi’s mind who is now Razia. It is here that Razia now again reincarnates into Lakshmi.The best part is that the reader will not feel that a history lesson been taught to him or her but s/he will feel the struggle of a person who is fighting for history that was suppressed and distorted.
Bhyrappa through Lakshmi thoroughly exposes the Indian Academia and their hypocrisy when it comes to Hinduism and Hindus. The most important thing is that real history which is ugly is brought into the forefront. Through Lakshmi he also writes about a certain community(Muslims to be precise) of their inability to take any kind of criticism whatsoever regarding their faith or their history.This wonderful novel cum history book touches all the sensitive topics like Hindu-Muslim marriages and illusion of Hindus towards the same, Our Marxists, Our Liberals and Our Academia when it comes to hiding the Islamic history of India.The title of the book is so apt that at the end of this book many Veils or Aavaranas are removed from the reader’s mind and even the characters of the book.The Aavarana or Veil from Laskshmi’s mind is removed that it was not worth becoming Razia for love and in her zeal to prove her progressiveness by converting to Islam it was she who lost everything at the end.The Aavarana or Veil around Aamir is removed who pretends to be a progressive Muslim voice for marrying Lakshmi but turns out to be a fundamentalist one.