Depiction of War Striven Trauma of Israeli Women

A Review

After BP koirala’s “Hitler Ra Yahudi” if there is any nepali literature that is about Jew, Jewish culture and people, it is Uma Subedi’s new venture “Todaa”. There are some salient features of this book that gives insights about information that is quite distinct, stories that are new, belonging to the changing social patterns with philosophical ideas mingling together along with delightful similes and metaphors.

The realistic depiction of inhumane violence of Hitler and his Nazi armies makes this novel that revolts against authoritarian regime and strives for personal freedom. The language with which Subedi has described serious events and philosophies are very lucid and simple, easy enough for readers to understand the meaning inherent. The writer has cleverly woven words using figures of speech to make the text a good read. It is more interesting to know that she has depicted about Jewish culture and their people in acute way also illustrating the situation of Nepali women caretakers there.

The novel has become successful in comparing and contrasting Israel and Nepal’s physical geography and development processes. Jewish people, their language and their religious practices are used in a subtle way while describing the different characters. For Eg death rite of both an Israeli and Nepali is described finely and compared distinctively. This helps readers to understand values, religious practices and geography of Israel. Some cities and places of Israel are described as well. The anecdotes in the novel represent the prevailing lives of young nepali women and their sufferings, joys and ambitions in the foreign land.

The writer mentions that women when go to Israel or any foreign country they feel free from their strict family life and affinal relationships and taste real freedom in speech as well as in daily life. She collects many realistic events no matter they be related to personal lives, they are the acute representation of lives of many nepali women. The protagonist Parwati is the representation in the book. There are many parwatis in Nepal who have left their nation, suffered relationships break-ups, and missed someone who is genuinely good in morale and character, whose relatives have changed their behaviors depending upon the financial success.

Technically also, the novelist has succeeded as the words she has used while finishing a chapter has been made the topic of the next upcoming chapter. When we read the novel, there are many minor characters that have their own stories. We may feel like reading stories than a novel at times but the novelist has perfectly interwoven those stories in chronological manner using the same words that give dual meanings, one in an ongoing chapter and another in the upcoming one.

Todaa is also not far from criticisms. The plots are not complex. They are simple for readers to predict about what would be the next? Enen’s death can be predicted before the novelist hints her death. The flows of the events in the chapters vary. Some chapters of the beginning have adequate explanation and description and few chapters towards the end flow in a great speed. The cruelty of Hitler and his Nazi soldier is illustrated like those of facts. As a novel, it would better be presented with more fictional details. There are some characters and their description resembles very less with the theme it has carried.

The sequence of the novel is like that of Loo by Nayanraj Pandey, scenes moving back and forth, and at times the characters’ incident resembles like that in Summer Love. Todaa depicts the struggle of nepali women who migrate to the Israeli world being far from their family and society in search of job that gives handsome salary due to their own nation’s political instability and internal conflicts. It also collects the mental tortures and trauma suffered by the elderly Israeli women during the cruel regime of Hitler and scenario of Second World War. The two major subjects arisen in the novel may look different but at a point resemble and move together in a dramatic way. That’s why also Todaa has stood as a powerful novel.

Due to distinctive subject, language, courageous writing and new type of storytelling abilities, we can be assured that in the field of contemporary nepali fiction it has created its own space and identity. Character, context of various humane sensibilities and subject’s profound description has made this novel distinctive. Tough contexts are also expressed in very simple but effective way. Due to this skill also Todaa has become a notable novel.
The end has pessimistic note as the protagonist loses all her wealth many times and also time before she decides to settle back her own home at Nepal and the option she had in earlier times is also lost with the demise of Enes. This situation also resembles with absurdity in life as for wealth people migrate foreign land and sometimes get nothing.

Ken Subedi