Andaman-Ratnadip Acharya

Book: Andaman
Author: Ratnadip Acharya
Publisher: Aksora Publications

Have you visited the Cellular Jail in the Andaman?

Andaman by Ratnadip Acharya starts in 1912 CE when a priest is embroiled in the whirlwind of swadeshi movements and is incarcerated in the infamous Cellular Jail, Port Blair where he witnesses the unbridled tortures that the jail authorities unleash on the political prisoners. He hatches up a plan to escape from the prison and leaves some symbols on the walls of his cell that might help someone understand his story one day. Cut to 2004 CE, in Great Nicobar Island, a small boy survives the tsunami and is ‘Andaman’ and is prophesied to fulfil a noble task that only he could do. Years later, the wheels of events bring him to a cell in the Cellular Jail where he was surprised to discover certain strange symbols on the walls that he had seen before. As his exploration starts from the jail to the deepest jungle of Andaman, the home of the Jarawas, many deeply-buried secrets start getting uncovered, embracing him in a century-old chain of events; a long saga of trust, betrayal, and retribution where he also had a role to play.

The plot of the book is quite interesting as it takes true events and weaves a fictional tale around the events that take place in the early 1900s. The story focusses on the plight of the prisoners and how it affects their psyche. The book goes into detail of how the days pass by and how David Barclay uses various contraptions and strategies to torture the prisoners. The storytelling is interesting, but the extent of detailing is a bit too much which goes against the interesting plot. In the parallel timeline of the present time, I liked the part that we see Andaman exploring and retracing steps to come to a point where the two timelines coincide. Another good thing about the book is that the intent behind the story is to generate interest about the events of the Freedom Struggle, specially related to the Cellular Jail and the tribulations people faced when locked up there. The use of symbols and allegories is an interesting touch as well. The book is well researched and the use of the local Jarawa language to put across the point is quite good. The downside is that there are grammar issues in the book which impact the overall reading experience.

Coming to the characters, I liked how the author creates the character of Satish Chandra Acharjee and the detailing that went into setting him up was quite interesting. The same is true for Andaman and I liked how Ratnadip uses the timelines to set up the present-day plot, right down to the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020. The character detailing for the other characters is rich in a similar fashion and the special focus on the Jarawa tribe is quite commendable.

Overall, I liked the plot and the focus of the author on the events and the zeal to bring them to the fore. The book scores a 4.06/5 for me.

I was provided a copy of the book in exchange of an honest review.

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