Assamese author pens novel on Tibetan refugees

Titled 'Wind horse', the novel has been pegged as the first major work of fiction set in the Tibetan struggle

Assamese author Kaushik Barua follows a group of Tibetan refugees who set up an armed resistance movement, in a new book of fiction.

Titled 'Wind horse', the novel scheduled to be launched in Guwahati on November 25 has been pegged as the first major work of fiction set in the Tibetan struggle and the turbulent period immediately following the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

"Despite being one of the most widely covered political issues in recent years, the Tibetan struggle has not yet been covered by any major work of fiction," according to publishers HarperCollins.

Set in Tibet, India and Nepal from the 1940s to the 1970s the book follows two main protagonists, Lhasang and Norbu.

"Lhasang loses his home and all that is familiar when the Chinese occupy Tibet. As a refugee, he realises that to regain his life, he must defy his family and his faith", Barua told PTI from his base in Italy.

"Norbu grows up in an affluent expatriate Tibetan family in India. As he moves towards the Tibetan resistance, he prepares to forsake more than just his family fortune.

"Lhasang and Norbu are accompanied by a motley group of young fighters: Athar, the monk who renounces his vows of non-violence; Thupten, the trader who joins the resistance for profit but becomes a reluctant leader; Ratu, the former slave who is scarred by his past but still treasures it", Barua continues about his first novel.

"The rebels sustain their battle for years, struggling against both an enemy with seemingly endless resources and their own doubts. But finally, between geo-political shifts and tensions within their own community, the rebellion is hurtled towards their devastating end", the book documents.

Noted Indian writer Mridula Koshy in the blurb on the cover of the book says, "Barua tells the story of the Tibetan people's struggle to regain their homeland in affecting prose that is at once measured and gripping.