Book review: 'The Tattooed Fakir'

Book: The Tattooed Fakir
Biman Nath
Pan Macmillan
299 pages
Rs268

It’s a great premise for a novel: Muslim fakirs and Hindu sanyaasis teaming up to fight the British gora sahibs. These Indian Robin Hoods live in the jungles of northern Bengal and help the poor by stealing from the rich. The rebellion involves armed warfare, intelligent tactics and the dream of defeating the British, and is bound to appeal to any patriot.

It’s also a rebellion that isn’t to be.

Biman Nath’s The Tattooed Fakir promises a story about a rebellion and ultimately it becomes about how the lives of the powerful and the powerless are interlinked. Set in late eighteenth-century India, the novel begins when Roshanara, the daughter of a Muslim fakir, is kidnapped by Kali babu, the zamindar of Jahangirpur. The British Ronald MacLean (Makhlin sahib or burra sahib), the owner of a Neel Kuthi (Indigo Estate) intervenes and takes Roshanara as his mistress. Roshanara’s solace are Anne, the sister of the plantation manager Pierre Gaubert, and a servant named Gopal.

Roshanara’s husband, Asif, decides to take the help of a band of fakirs led by Majnu Shah to rescue his wife, which takes years. After training with the fakirs, he goes on to learn rocket making from Tipu Sultan (the sequence is as farcical as it sounds); all the while pining for Roshanara. Their lives, leading up to the point when Asif comes to rescue Roshanara, make up most of the book. Asif’s rescue mission ends badly and he ends up kidnapping Roshanara’s six-year-old son, Roshan.

Roshan is the star of the The Tattooed Fakir, even though he appears late in the story. His mother Roshanara hates him and his father MacLean refuses to acknowledge his presence. He doesn’t fit in among the fakirs, who call him “white djinn” and he is unsure about Asif’s feelings towards him. In a desperate bid to change his identity, he tattoos his face, so becoming the tattooed fakir of the title. He also becomes a skilled marksman with a violent streak.

The Tattooed Fakir spans over a decade in 260-odd pages and that’s where it fails miserably. “The years go by”, “he spends a year with..” are the only indications of the passage of time.

Asif spends seven years training for his rescue mission, which seems an inordinately long amount of time for a guerrilla mission, and when it does unfold, it lacks planning. This is disappointing but not surprising since much of Nath’s story focuses on the infighting and politics within the group of fakirs. The few missions they undertake end disastrously. Majnu Shah plays a brief role that doesn’t leave much of an impression, which is a big letdown since he is the leader of the fakirs. 

The novel fails to provide much insight into the Fakir Sanyaasi Rebellion, which has historians divided. Was it an early war for independence or just violent acts of banditry? Nath largely ignores this aspect.

However, The Tattooed Fakir makes up for some of its flaws by introducing a diverse and strong cast. The central characters, other than MacLean, are all well-sketched. There is an interesting back story explaining why Pierre and Anne moved from their home in Lyon to India, a place where they have no friends or family.

Asif’s helplessness and confusion at the fakirs’ mission is credible, as are his mixed feelings towards a son that isn’t his but who was borne by his wife. Then there’s Kali babu, the lecherous zamindar who treats village women like prostitutes at his beck and call. Gopal, the unassuming servant who looks after Roshanara; and Javed, a warrior fakir who takes Roshan under his wing and saves him from the taunts of the others are also interesting.

Read The Tattooed Fakir for these characters, who draw you into their world of loss, pain, courage and helplessness.