Train to Pakistan

"The only remaining oases of peace were a scatter of little villages lost in the remote reaches of the frontier. One of these villages was Mano Majra."

The dichotomy between the violence raging at the center of the country and the relative peace in the untouched villages on the outskirts is brought into focus here. This quote sets the tone for the bucolic scene still found in Mano Majra

“What do the Gandhi-caps in Delhi know about the Punjab? What is happening on the other side in Pakistan does not matter to them. They have not lost their homes and belongings; they haven’t had their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters raped and murdered in the streets.”

The subinspector, frustrated with the deteriorating state of affairs in his district, shows his contempt for the elite government bureaucrats who are issuing orders. He argues that they haven’t been touched by the horrors on the ground in the same way other people have.

“Morality is a matter of money. Poor people cannot afford to have morals. So they have religion”

Iqbal believes religion is a tool that the wealthy elites use to keep the poor people satisfied, and believes the true roots of the conflict lie in the class system rather than religious differences.

“Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated Indians—or the Pakistanis.”

Although the educated people of India celebrate their independence, the rural workers and lower classes do not. They do not see how independence will improve their lives instead they fear the uncertainty it will bring.

"You are in the same handcuffs and fetters which the English put on you. We have to get together and rise. We have nothing to lose but these chains!"

Iqbal, appealing to the policemen who have imprisoned him, argues that nothing has changed since the days of British colonialism. He has arrived in the village filled with principles, and in his current situation the only people he can speak to are his captors. His is frustrated as his appeals fall on deaf ears.

"It is our fate. It is written on our foreheads and on the lines of our hands. I am always wanting to do something. When there is plowing to be done or the harvest to be gathered, then I am busy. When there is no work, my hands still itch to do something. So I do something, and it is always wrong."

Jugga explaining to Iqbal what exactly makes him a “budmash” or dangerous person in the eyes of the village. He sees himself as a man of passion, whose desire for action leads him to make rash decisions.

“In a country which had accepted caste distinctions for many centuries, inequality had become an inborn mental concept.”

The caste system is so deeply entrenched in Indian culture that Iqbal despairs of overcoming its influence. Even two suspected criminals like he and Jugga face completely different treatment based on reputation and class.

“His mind was like the delicate spring of a watch, which quivers for several hours after it has been touched.”

With Iqbal locked up alongside Jugga, his mind is keyed up, going over the events of the day and trying frantically to figure a way out of the situation he has found himself in.

“The last to learn of gossip are the parties concerned”

Although this quote could refer to interpersonal relations, in the context of the novel, it primarily refers to how the national conflict in India affected Mano Majra, long before inhabitants were aware of it.

“Early in September the time schedule in Mano Majra started going wrong. Trains became less punctual than ever before and many more started to run through at night. Some days it seemed as though the alarm clock had been set for the wrong hour.”

The link between time and trains in Mano Majra has been a fact of life for so long that the disruption in the schedule completely changes the way of life in the village.

“This was the pattern of things at Mano Majra when anything of consequence happened. The women went to the headman’s house, the men to the temple. There was no recognized leader of the village.”

In contrast to the bureaucratic structures of government in Delhi, the people of Mano Majra have no real interest in, or type of formal government and are capable of resolving their problems through community cooperation.

“The village was stilled in a deathly silence. No one asked anyone else what the odor was. They all knew. They had known it all the time. The answer was implicit in the fact that the train had come from Pakistan. That evening, for the first time in the memory of Mano Majra, Imam Baksh’s sonorous cry did not rise to the heavens to proclaim the glory of God.”

Although the village of Mano Majra has yet to be touched by the violence surrounding it, the funeral pyre on which the bodies from the ghost train are burned provides their first clue to the reality of the bloodshed. This serves as the moment when the veil is lifted from the eyes of the people of the village.

“The police are the kings of the country. They will let me off when they feel like it. If they want to keep me in, they will trump up a case…”

Jugga has had many encounters with the law. As a result, he perceives them as corrupt and incompetent. Despite the hopelessness expressed in this statement, he has proved repeatedly that he is able to outthink and manipulate them.

“The subinspector smiled contemptuously. ‘Certainly, Mr. Iqbal, we will do all we can to make you comfortable. Tables, chairs - an electric fan maybe?’”

This scene serves as Iqbal’s awakening that the situation is out of his control. Before, he had been treated with kid gloves, almost kindly. Once the decision was made to frame him, he was treated in a similar way to Jugga or any other low-born prisoner.

“When it was discovered that the train had brought a full load of corpses, a heavy brooding silence descended on the village. People barricaded their doors and many stayed up all night talking in whispers. Everyone felt his neighbor’s hand against him, and thought of finding friends and allies.”

The arrival of the ghost train in Mano Majra has brought the first hints of suspicion and fear to the village. Although people have lived side by side in the town for generations, for the first time they are starting to see each other as potential enemies and threats.

“Not forever does the bulbul sing

In balmy shades of bowers,

Not forever lasts the spring

Nor ever blossom the flowers.

Not forever reigneth joy,

Sets the sun on days of bliss,

Friendships not forever last,

They know not life, who know not this.”

Imam Baksh, attempting to console his fellow Muslims as they prepare to leave Mano Majra, focuses on the transience of all things in life, showing that all good things in nature cannot last.

“His equation with authority was simple: he was on the other side. Personalities did not come into it. Subinspectors and policemen were people in khaki who frequently arrested him, always abused him, and sometimes beat him. Since they abused him and beat him without anger or hate, they were not human beings with names. They were only denominations one tried to get the better of. If one failed, it was just bad luck.”

Jugga has had many experiences with authority over the years, few of them good. In that time, he has ceased trying to reason with authority or understand it; instead he views his interactions with authority figures as a game in which he tries to beat the odds.

“What have you to do with meaning? It is just the Guru’s word. If you are going to do something good, the Guru will help you. If you are going to do something bad, the Guru will stand in your way. If you persist in doing it, he will punish till you repent, and then forgive you.”

Meet Singh’s personal interpretation of Sikh teachings is summarized here, and involves trusting in a greater power. The Guru is an all-seeing being who will guide people in the right direction, and all people need to do is look for the signs to know what the right direction to go in is.

“Consciousness of the bad is an essential prerequisite to the promotion of the good.”

The idea Iqbal is promoting is that for one to do good, they must first be aware of the presence of evil. One cannot exist before the other, and awareness is the necessary first step towards activism and righteousness.

“The doer must do only when the receiver is ready to receive. Otherwise, the act is wasted.”

Musing over his options as the train moves ever closer, Iqbal considers the meaning of sacrifice, and if any sacrifice on his part would actually make a difference. For a sacrifice to matter, the recipients or beneficiaries of the sacrifice must be willing to make a change in the aftermath, or it will be meaningless.

“We are of the mysterious East. No proof, just faith. No reason, just faith.”

Iqbal is frustrated by the lack of value placed on reason and logic in Indian society, although he also seems fascinated by the culture’s boundless determination to pursue the impossible.

“If you look at things as they are, there does not seem to be a code either of man or of God on which one can pattern one's conduct. Wrong triumphs over right as much as right over wrong. Sometimes its triumphs are greater. What happens ultimately, you do not know. In such circumstances what can you do but cultivate an utter indifference to all values? Nothing matters. Nothing whatever...”

Iqbal, lost in a haze of alcohol, muses on the hopelessness of the situation he finds himself in. He feels overwhelmed by the conflict that is devouring the country, and wonders if the best way around such a situation is to simply not care about who wins in a battle between good and evil.

“Hukum Chand was also uneasy about his own role. Was it enough to get others to do the work for him? Magistrates were responsible for maintenance of law and order. But they maintained order with power behind them, not opposing them. Where was the power?”

Hukum Chand is a minor functionary in the Delhi government. He realizes that despite his efforts to keep the peace in his region, he has very little support from the powers that be.