Book Review | Rebirth of a classic on Indian coal town

Rohit Manchanda's A Speck of Coal Dust, which originally went on to bag a Betty Trask Award and was published under the title In the Light of the Black Sun, is a meditative coming-of-age novel set in the coal mining regions of Jharkhand. The book follows a young boy, as in any other similar work, as he strives to find his place in the world. Each day, for him, brings a slight peek into the many possibilities of what the world could be.

The bildungsroman is arguably one of the most difficult forms of writing to pull off for various reasons. As every child eventually comes of age, it always runs the risk of being indifferent and thus, the writer runs a constant risk of giving into mediocrity. On the contrary, if not presented in a manner that is just right, it might just become unrelatable. Additionally, writing for an audience who have possibly never been even remotely familiar with said social settings becomes a difficult and potentially risky manoeuvre. Manchanda, quite interestingly, variously juggles these key aspects to avoid monotony in the narrative in a stunning show of skill.

What differentiates Manchanda's novel, which appears on the surface to be taking a middle path between Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Genzaburo Yoshino’s How Do You Live?, from the others in the genre is the perspective it brings in. A Speck of Coal Dust is a deeply Indian yet incredibly diverse work. As the narrative follows Vipul, the boy protagonist, we are witness to various episodes in a life that would seem mundane to the naked eye. Yet, to the author, these peculiar moments of the daily life of Khajoori’s denizens seem to stand out. One time a simple act of sitting down to get his hair trimmed becomes an act of courage for Vipul, while at another point bearing love for his “cousin sister” seems to stretch the fabric of social norms. The semi-autobiographical nature of the book makes A Speck of Coal Dust all the more convincing.

The prose is fluid and inviting, as it keeps the reader hooked to the seemingly ordinary life of the characters, the town and even its institutions like the missionary school. Every little detail is full of life and every character, of individuality. The characters, shaped in the image of their possible real-world counterparts, are bound to bring back a faint memory of one or more similar interactions as seen in the book.

In the Light of the Black Sun, although part of a global tradition of coming-of-age narratives, seems to have claimed its place as an important piece of Indian literature in English. A Speck of Coal Dust, with this republication, cements it as a classic.

Ankit Rath is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford

A Speck of Coal Dust

By Rohit Manchanda

HarperCollins

pp. 240; Rs 399