Just read the Hindi short story Usne kaha tha by Chandradhar Sharma Guleri ( 1883- 1922 ). I had read it earlier half a century ago. It is remarkably realistic in its description of life in the French trenches in the First World War. It reminds one of Erich Maria Remarques All Quiet on the Western Front , though the latter is much longer and much more vivid. Perhaps the reason for that is that while Remarque actually fought in the war, Guleri probably never did. However, he must have heard first hand accounts from some Indian soldiers who fought in the war, because his descriptions of the cold and dampness of the trenches in France, and the brutality of the war, are truly graphic and realistic. Also it is an undying story of sacrifice by Jamadar Lehna Singh for his Subedar, whose wife had pleaded to Lehna Singh to protect her husband before they went to France to fight in the war. The most touching and heart rending words in the story are Lehna Singhs words to one of his comrades towards the end of the story Wazeera, paani pilaa
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 04:13:19 +0000
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