A Golden Read

A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam is a novel set against the backdrop of the Liberation War that lead to the creation of Bangladesh. Through a description of  the trials and tribulations that a family and its neighbors suffer during the War, Anam has very skillfully given the readers a sense of the kind of deprivations and emotional upheavals that the Dhaka residents had to suffer during the war.

The book does not get into the politics of the war, but rather concentrates on personal tragedies and sacrifices that a war requires.The protagonist Rehana, is a widow and a single mother of two children Her children are her Universe. She would go to any lengths for her children and at one point in her life, she also steals so as to be able to keep her children with her in Dhaka. During the Liberation War, Rehana's children are at the threshold of adulthood and want to embrace the war efforts whole-hardheartedly. Initially, Rehana is reluctant to give up her children to the war efforts; but is powerless when circumstances and the stubbornness and persistence of her children force her hand. In fact, Rehana herself becomes unwittingly involved in the war efforts, but at all times her actions are directed by the fact that she wants to be close to her children.

Anam has successfully given a sense of the atrocities committed by the Pakistani army and the refugee crisis in the wake of the Liberation of War, without being graphical

The month of December is celebrated as the Liberation month in Bangladesh as the nation formally came into being on December 16, 1971. The Golden Age makes for a great read to get a start to understanding the reasons for the creation of Bangladesh and the passions of its people that made them go against all odds to fight for the preservation of a language and culture that they believed in.