Cracking India

by Bapsi Sidhwa

Book Overview

The 1947 Partition of India is the backdrop for this powerful novel, narrated by a precocious child who describes the brutal transition with chilling veracity.

Young Lenny Sethi is kept out of school because she suffers from polio. She spends her days with Ayah, her beautiful nanny, visiting with the large group of admirers that Ayah draws. It is in the company of these working class characters that Lenny learns about religious...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571310487
• ISBN13: 9781571310484
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 3.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

When you read, you learn.

I loved this book for the history it presented. Well written, characters are well developed and it is based on actual events.

Beautiful and tragic, Cracking India

This tragic story is very personal, as told by a young girl, Lenny Sethi (possibly autobiographical?) living in the Punjab region of northwest India during the few years prior to and after the partition of India. History is full of such terrible stories and horrible truths, but Cracking India has a very familial impact, and completely feminine perspective. We are allowed to become part of the extended family that comprises Lenny's young life. There is a comfortable mix of Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Parsees, and Christians prior to the partition, and Bapsi Sidhwa immerses us completely in that unique and unusual world. What a fragile, terrible facade it turned out to be. Sidhwa does not try to inform us why people are so often so terrible to each other. Is she suggesting that no such understanding is possible? She shows that people live through, but often not beyond, such events. Cracking India is very compelling and unique, completely engaging, and excruciatingly real. I found this story to be completely believable, as the story of a young girl told through her adult perspectives. A completely different world was mine for a brief time in reading Cracking India, and for all its terrors, I am glad I was there. Highest recommendation.

A breathtaking, wondrous, witty hit!

Ice, candy man- a story that very methodically began with the conditions of India in the time before two nations emerged out of it, Pakistan and India. "Lenny", the main narrator, gives the reader a brief account of the pungent surroundings of the city of splendor- Lahore. Her guardian "Ayah" also plays a very important role in this young lass's life. But as they say, the sun never shines for ages, soon the sun set here too. Ice candy man, the very cheeky fellow, who everyone thought was Ayah's Romeo, emerged out as a traitor and took the form of the character Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Ice Candy Man, in the Hindu- Muslim riots forcibly drags out his love, Ayah, for she was of Hindu caste. Ayah was made into what they call ' Dancing Girls', while the cheat himself, turned into a poet. The story moves up and down as Lenny tells the reader about all of her Parsee family. Her weird cousin, who always seeks opportunities to pounce on her, Adi, her belligerent brother, Father and Mother all are very wittily described. But, the savior is Rodabai. This fat, stubby lady is Lenny's godmother and together they find the whereabouts of her lost Ayah. Rodabai manages to track Ayah and she and Lenny dash of towards Diamond Market to find the maid. In the end, the 'trying to talk very sweet' Ice-candy man, gets a taste of his own medicine as he is fiercely beaten and Ayah rescued. The story ends, as Ayah rolls of in a truck to Lahore, to her family and the Parsees having lost everything, their friends, bonds, Ayah and Ice candy man once again move on. Truly, this tale is a witty, breathtaking, wondrous experience. If you want to enjoy some high quality reading time, Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice- Candy man is just the right book. Nikhil Pandhi, India, Haryana 122017

Heartfelt and heartbreaking

Read this book, whether you're Indian, Pakistani, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, whatever -- its lessons extend beyond any one or two countries or religions, and would seem particularly apt at the end of this war-torn century. This is a vividly imagined, lovingly written look at one of the most painful events in the history of the subcontinent, through the eyes of an eight year old whose unbiased loves and loyalties mirror the lost innocence of a people torn apart by the selfishness and greed of a few powerful men. There are no villains here, just (at the risk of sounding cliched) ordinary people unable to cope with events too large for them or for a nation. Love, laughter, trust, betrayal -- on a national scale, reflected in the lives (and deaths) of a circle of friends who thought they were above such strife -- they're all in here, brought to life with a clarity that leaves one both bitterly regretful for what happened and grateful that it has been set down on paper with such grace and compassion. Read this book.

I love it

Ireally loved this book, being from that part of the world myself, I really "get" all of the hilarious phrases. unfortunately they tend to lose just a slight edge when translated in to english. None the less it is one of the most entertaining books I have ever read. The movie "earth " is based on this book, not on "The Bride" which is what is written in the review for "The Bride". I really recommend this book, no matter what part of the world you are from. Best reading is the three books in this series in order. I beleive the first is "The Croweaters" Love it. Thanks

This author?s relative obscurity is inexplicable!

Bapsi Sidhwa's Cracking India will expand and alter your view of India, Pakistan, and the British Raj. Using a child-narrator, a literary device over-employed and often unsuccessful, this author has found the perfect vehicle for conveying the heart-breaking story of the Partition of India in l947, without being coy and without descending into bathos. Lenny, as the child of a Parsee family, is part of no ethnic majority, and as a result, she roams freely through the Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, and Parsee society of her household and neighborhood in Lahore. Because she is lame and receiving private schooling, she is at home when momentous events and important conversations occur, and because she is very young and has no ethnic biases, she observes the disintegration of her society with the puzzlement of an outsider. An active, loving person, Lenny makes us see the personal and emotional costs of the founding of Pakistan, especially to women and children. Whether your interest is historical, literary, or feminist, Cracking India will illuminate the dangers and tragedies of creating artificial geographical boundaries.