From the Bookshelf of Around the World…

Train to Pakistan

Khushwant Singh

Discussion: Asia

Discussion leader: Lilisa

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 49 topics — 235 comments total

Asia

Mongolia, anyone?
By Andrea , Slow but steady · 5 posts · 14 views

last updated Mar 01, 2019 03:23PM

Tibet recommendations
By Andrea , Slow but steady · 5 posts · 15 views

last updated Aug 13, 2018 06:14AM

showing 2 of 2 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jan 02, 2012 Nivas rated it it was amazing

every time i want to write a review, I am just, struck, plain and simple. but this time i decided to write anything or something.

why I give this book five stars? Because it's Indian literature? and about us- Indians?. no, certainly not, because its about characters, which are, u know, are fictitious, but situated in non-fictitious and hard-core reality, struggle to maintain balance consistently between whats good and bad.

Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh is a story about the

violence during Hi ...more

120 likes · Like · see review

Mar 06, 2014 Jibran rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: south-asian-fiction, pakistan

One of the earliest English language novels to capture the horrors of the Indian Partition of 1947. Since then it has achieved classic status in the history of Subcontinental literature and for right reasons.

As independence and with it Partition took reality the Punjabis become desperate to learn about their fate. The province of Punjab (like Bengal on the Eastern borders) was to be cut in half between its Muslim majority population and Hindu-Sikh majority population. Those who found themselves ...more

29 likes · Like · see review

Aug 11, 2017 Claire rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: around-the-world, historical-fiction, fiction, translated, south-asian-literature, indian-literature, pakistan-literature

There are so many tragic stories surrounding partition, thousands that will never be told because there is no one left to tell them. It was a moment in history that showed what happens to humanity when fear and panic really take hold and its devastating.

I'm glad this wasn't written this century, when books and films are so much more visceral and confrontational with their message, written in 1956, .

Khushwant Singh takes the Punjabi farming village of Mano Majra, a small village on the border bet There are so many tragic stories surrounding partition, thousands that will never be told because there is no one left to tell them. It was a moment in history that showed what happens to humanity when fear and panic really take hold and its devastating.

I'm glad this wasn't written this century, when books and films are so much more visceral and confrontational with their message, written in 1956, .

Khushwant Singh takes the Punjabi farming village of Mano Majra, a small village on the border between India and Pakistan, one of strategic importance to the railway system, and narrates the moment when news of this change arrives and shows how it affects this community.

The trains are symbolic to the story, they are the portenders of what is to come, in the past they have run like clockwork and though they rarely stop, the lives of the villages is intricately linked to their passing. When the trains become delayed, the rhythm of the village gets out of sync and worse when the trains begin to stop in Mano Majra, life will never be the same for all who witness it.

A man named Iqbal arrives from Delhi, sent by his party to observe the impact of the news.

Well, Babuji,' began the Muslim. 'Tell us something. What is happening in the world?
What is all this about about Pakistan and Hindustan?
'We live in this little village and know nothing,' the lambardar put in. 'Babuji, tell us, why did the English leave?'

The villagers aren't convinced by Iqbal's idealistic view that freedom will follow Independence.

'Why, don't you people want to be free? Do you want to remain slaves all your lives?
After a long silence the lambardar(Headman/Revenue collector) answered: 'Freedom must be a good thing. But what will we get out of it? Educated people like you, Babu Sahib, will get the jobs the English had. Will we get more land or more buffaloes?
'No,' the Muslim said. 'Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated Indians - or the Pakistanis.'

Brilliant, a compelling read, and one that was relatively respectful to all who were affected and to readers with vivid imaginations, who don't need certain scenes described in overly graphic detail. ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Apr 22, 2023 Pragya rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, 2023

3.5 stars

5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 15, 2011 Darcey rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, india

Taking time to explain Indian culture - but in relevant ways to the story (what is monsoon? What do you do if you want to enter a Sikh gudwara?), Singh provides the story of a small Punjabi village during Partition and the relationship between Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, and... well, no one exactly knows. How do communities band together, or separate, during times of strife (particularly something like the Partition)? What length will someone go to, for what they love/value?

I was not expecting to enjo ...more

3 likes · Like · see review