Chhotu-Varud Gupta & Ayushi Rastogi

Book: Chhotu: A Tale of Partition and Love

Author: Varud Gupta & Ayushi Rastogi

Publisher: Ebury Press (Penguin Random House India)

The stories of partition of India are quite gory and all of us have heard the stories from our grandparents who witnessed it.

Chhotu: A Tale of Partition and Love by Varud Gupta & Ayushi Rastogi is the tale of the partition told through the eyes of Chhotu, who works at the Paratha Shop owned by Bapu in the Paranthe Wali Gali in Chandni Chowk. Chhotu is also a student, who is in love with Heer, his classmate but is quite reluctant to express himself. As he gathers courage to do so, he notices a change in his neighborhood. The Aloo in the town has gone missing and as he embarks on his quest to find the tubers, he stumbles upon a sinister plot. Set against the backdrop of Partition and the horrors that followed, Chhotu is a coming-of-age story of an unlikely hero and a parable of a past that doesn't feel too removed from the present.

Chhotu is a graphic novel that explores a variety of themes keeping the partition as the general theme. The storyline is very crisp, and the authors have taken care to keep the parallel themes running through the story. The narration is quite enriching, and the scenes are quite realistic. Another thing that works for the book is its simplicity and the way each of the plot point is treated. I loved the way in which small details were put up with the help of various props. The language is quite simple and its quite a breezy read. Varud has taken the topic of partition and transformed it into a tale that would interest people of all ages, and personally, that is the biggest impact that it can have as a story and as a book.

Coming to the characters, the protagonist of the tale is Chhotu who is a student and a cook at Bapu’s Paratha Shop in Chandni Chowk. His character has shades of heroism, courage and love, and the way his character develops over the story as he experiences love, pain and loss is remarkable. The character of Shere was another gem for me, the way it was written and created. One character that plays quite an important role is the humble Radio, that features in multiple panels and acts as the narrator of the story. creating a non-human world yet retaining the essence of it is the true art that shines through the pages of Chhotu.

Being a graphic novel, Chhotu’s artwork is as critical as its storyline and the way the panels are sketched brought back memories of the comics I read as a child. Though more nuanced and detailed, Chhotu’s detailed artwork, with a monochrome tone adds a completely different flavor to the tale. A special mention for Ayushi for sketching the panels so beautifully and giving life to the story of Chhotu.

Overall, Chhotu scores a 4.63/5 for me, and is definitely a prized possession for me.

Grab a copy here.