Book Review: The Quarantine Papers by Kalpish Ratna

There were 2 horrifying facts that were brought to my notice when I sat for a book-reading of The Quarantine Papers. First, that the communal riots that occurred in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and riots in the city in 1893 took place in the very same alleys. The very same buildings witnessed violence and arson, a hundred years apart.

The second and scarier fact was that the concept of concentration camps was introduced by the British in Bombay during the plague. They were called ‘Segregation Camps’ and any ‘native’ suspected of having any kind of illness was rounded up along with his or her family and interned there. This was half a century before Hitler had concentration camps built for Jews and Gypsies in Nazi Germany and Poland. Now imagine needing a pass to cross the Bandra-Mahim causeway? Or getting pulled out of local trains and then herded into a camp? This was a reality in our very own city in the late 19th century.

The Quarantine Papers is about the life of Ratan Oak, a microbiologist, who gets hallucinations that turn him into his great-grandfather Dr Ramratan Oak. Ratan lives the parallel life of his great-grandfather, recalling events and people from the 19th century. An excellent and graphic narrative, the book brings to life two of the most traumatic incidents that the city has ever witnessed: the 1992 riots and the plague of 1893. The book is a treat for history lovers, who know little about Bombay in the 19th century. A lot of research has gone in to bringing some characters of colonial Bombay (like Alice Kipling, Rudyard’s mother) to life. We also come to know of the pivotal role played by the dedicated Indian medical staff of Dr Waldermar Haffkine in making the anti-plague vaccine.

The authors, Kalpana Swaminthan and Ishrat Syed, are both surgeons and the name Kalpish Ratna is “an almost-anagram” of their first names. Be warned about the graphic details of autopsies and gore and blood that many doctors see in real life. Considering the fact that many of us have never seen a dead body in real life, the mechanical precision with which Ratan Oak cuts up dead bodies may be a bit much to handle.

The authors address the issue of communal violence and the role the colonialists had in orchestrating and encouraging it. Relations between Hindus and Muslims in pre-partition India weren’t as rosy as some of our history books would like us to believe. It’s not difficult to tell that the authors spent a tremendous amount of time going through the Bombay Archives.

There are a few images of and citations from historic documents, including one on the riots written by R. H. Vincent, the acting commissioner of the Bombay Police in 1893. One of the most interesting documents is the ‘Notes of a conversation with a Maulana, regarding the cause of the riot.’ The Maulana blames the Cow Protection Society for instigating riots in 1893. “I know of one of the Cow Protection Sabha members eating beef and pork with great gusto, as his ancestors relished the puran poli!” Isn’t it amusing that half a century later the same types of Maulanas were the ones who disliked Jinnah for eating pork and drinking alcohol?

Many of us, who witnessed the 1992-93 riots in the city, have a strong conviction that our country has moved on from the days of such mindless violence, but the book reminds us that we need to stay vigilant to prevent riots in the future. Again, I quote from the book: “Nobody alive remembered a riot. But the hardware that mapped the city- walls, boundaries, buildings, streets - these did.”

Without playing the role of a spoiler, I’d like to emphasise that this book has a very strong love story and also showcases the idealism of people who hailed from different cultures but were way ahead of their time in terms of thought process. The Quarantine Papers can easily be adapted for the silver screen by an international production team, though films never do justice to books.

This review was published in the August 21 edition of the Free Press Journal.