Book Review 48: The Bag: A Novel by Arup Kumar Dutta.

The Bag: A Novel by Arup Kumar Dutta is a detailed story which mainly focuses on the lives of mainly three central characters of the novel - the dreaded United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) insurgent Hiren Bora, his twelve-year-old step brother Okon, and Senior Police Inspector Lahiri. Each one of the characters is a victim of certain circumstances, not particularly as a result of their own deeds.

The story is set in the socio-political backdrop of Assam. The portrayal of the conflict zones of North-East India is very realistic. The constant tension due to political unrest, the complexities of the relationship between Hiren Bora and his adolescent younger brother - strikes a chord within the readers. As the story unfolds, the readers can't help but empathise with the problematic socio-political situation which forced Hiren to resort to arms. His younger brother Okon's story is emotional as well. Both of them shared a deep bond and Hiren's joining the militant force had a huge psychological as well as emotional impact on his life.

The tale is poignant and deeply moving. The plot is very well constructed and moves at a rather slow pace. The story is packed with frequent action, thrill, emotions and a very dramatic climax. All the characters are well constructed, but there is no prominent female character in this novel. 

Overall, The Bag is a quite interesting socio-political novel, which has a deep emotional touch in it. 

 About the author: Arup Kumar Dutta is an Indian author and freelance journalist. He writes short-fiction, long fiction, non-fiction, newspaper editorials, articles and columns, satirical pieces et al. His works of fiction like The Anagarika’s Swansong, Red—Camellia Green and The Ahoms have received critical acclaim, as have his 15 non-fiction books like The Brahmaputra, Unicornis, Cha-Garam—The Tea Story, The Final Frontier, The Roving Minstrel etc. His 17 juvenile adventure novels include The Kaziranga Trail, Blind Witness, Smack, Lure of Zangrila, Revenge, Save the Pool, Oh Deer, Footprints in the Sand, The Counterfeit Treasure, A Story About Tea, The Crystal Cave etc. Among the awards, he has been bestowed with are Shankar’s Award, Journalist Welfare Foundation Award, Kamal Kumari National Award and The Life Time Achievement Honor Award by AWIC, the Indian Chapter of International Board for Books for Young People. Between 2004-2008, the Government of India appointed him Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Centre, Jakarta, and Indian Cultural Centre, Bali, with the rank of a Counselor in the Indian Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia. In 2018, the University of Dibrugarh conferred D. Litt (honoris causa) on him while the Government of India honoured him with the Padmashri. 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars.
Publisher: Niyogi Books.
First Published: August 2018
Pages: 292
Price: ₹395/-

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Thanks to the publisher, Niyogi Books, for the review copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.