Suraj Ka Satvan Ghodha

The Seventh Steed of the Sun 
didn't like it didn't like it didn't like it didn't like it didn't like it  
 
The stories are set in a typical lower middle class society of an Indian village. Daily struggles of people with poverty and societal norms with its roots in a worldly struggles of capitalism vs socialism. The stories are as colloquial as you would have heard in your society or community. Girl likes neighbour boy, big dowry demands, parental pressure, young girl married to rich old man, million rituals for bearing son as a hire – even now if you open a newspaper these themes will be underlying the news. So what makes this book special…

Very rarely we come across a book which has strong social message imbibed in human drama. A strong narrator and a very keen audience can bring such depth to a story that it turns into a classic. Most of you would have heard of it as a film by Shyam Benegal. I had been wanting to read this book since I saw the film about 15 years back. And nothing can beat the power of the book, the language, the story telling technique, the characters, the title, the humour, the plot, are all makings of a masterpiece. Dharamvir Bharati is definitely an author who gives Hindi literature a proud name. You can feel that the Hindi language is giving more power to the story and the characters.
The best part of his book was the style of saying the most serious things with humour. It's a very typical Indian style, we cannot get too serious about anything. If someone falls and gets injured, we will still have a laugh about it and take things lightly. Bad things happen but one needs to move on.. have a laugh on the way.. like God has played a mean joke on you… it was his will to teach you a tough lesson.. These stories are sad but the way the friends discuss them – they seem to be case studies on the state of Indian society. It makes the listeners wonder and think of the outcome as right or wrong, even though the events have happened the way they did. It's the obviousness of the situations which make you wonder whether life is what you make it.. or it just happens while you are making plans…

The significance of Seven horses of Surya - The Hindu God Surya is shown as riding a chariot harnessed by seven horses or one horse with seven heads, which represent the seven colours of the rainbow or the seven chakras.
<Image Credit: cinebasti.com>



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