Magic of Doon Valley evoked in diplomat’s debut novel-UNI

The eternal idyllic charm of the valley of Doon, evoked by renowned writers like Ruskin Bond and Allen Sealy in their works, has been rejuvenated by diplomat Navtej Sarna in his debut novel” We Weren’t Lovers Like That," Published by Penguin and launched in New Delhi, last week, at a glittering function, the book by the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson, is a symbolic journey of self-discovery of the protagonist who revisits his past.

An inward monologue in many parts, the novel recounts the journey of Aftab Chandra by the “Shatabdi Express” from New Delhi to Dehradun. The journey is as much a physical one as it is a metaphorical one, ending in the tranquil environs of the Doon Valley, the place where Chandra spent his childhood.

For readers who have spent their childhood in Doon and have also taken the Shatabdi Express many times, the book provides many occasions where they are on familiar territory, physically as well as spiritually, The last station of the train is Dehradun and reaching there symbolically also marks the destination end of the conflicts and confusion plaguing the middle- aged protagonist. The arrival at Doon spells hope and a second lease of life. Aftab’s wife has left him for a friend, taking away his only son with her. He has now reached Doon to meet Rohini, his long lost love. Perhaps, they can start afresh.

Titled “ Dehradun”, the last section of the novel takes us to the “ wonder years” that childhood was and which we carry within our hearts, traversing through the defiles of our adult lives. Writes Sarna, “Soon, even without having to open my eyes, I know that we are out of the light and shade of the trees. We are through the hills, into the valley with its riverbeds, its fields of rice and sugarcane and its litchi trees.” And he asks (the author asks in the voice of Aftab Chandra) “ Does one ever go back in time? Can one be a child again? Can I erase my past just by entering this childhood valley of mine and start afresh?” The question is not easy to answer. Neither for the author nor for the reader.

As he enters the town in a tonga taken from the railway station, a flood of memories fill him almost drowning him with its power. 

Aftab revisits the house where he spent his “ safe” childhood, the streets and lanes through which he cycled on lazy afternoons, the bakeries, the sweet shops and of course, his school.
Having spent his own childhood in this valley, Sarna cannot help being autobiographical while describing Aftab’s childhood in the valley.” A visit to Doon while I was writing my novel rekindled all the memories and made them even more vivid,” the author disclosed during the book launch.
When he enters the school in the valley as the ‘new boy’ in class three, a whole new world opens up for him. The local boys in his class marvel at his watch causing the young teacher to remark-“ Yes, he is not like you chaps; he has come from Delhi.” Now returning many years later, the valley has not changed much.

Aftab says that he has come back once again to Doon from Delhi.” But this time I have come with things that others will not envy. I have come with things that others will not envy. I have come with my middle- age worries and my high blood sugar levels. Nobody, not one of the ghosts who hang around the giant tree next to the small classroom will want to share all that with me.”

The sounds and smells of Race Course, Clement Town, Chakrata Road and all the places so familiar to Doonites come alive in Sarna’s novel which voices the emotions experienced by many who have returned to this valley of their childhood after long years.

“Tomorrow I will walk into Chakrata Road, the twisting suicide alley that can cut this town in two. I wonder if it still has all those old shops, the two chemists competing with each other, the sweet shop with the burfee that lived up to its reputation of melting in one’s mouth. And the two sports shops, where I dreamt and salivated over cricket bats that I would have to oil myself with linseed oil, bought from the hardware store.”

Through Aftab’s consciousness, the author relives his ‘magical’ childhood in the valley which has become synonymous with serenity in his own consciousness. The last page of the novel, where the protagonist is left with the thought of finally going up to Mussoorie to meet his long lost love, throbs with memories of Doon and Mussoorie. ‘Tomorrow, like the old times, I will walk up the hills again to Mussoorie. I will take the bus to Rajpur, till I reach the long uphill road with the few shops and houses, and then I will walk…. Rest for a while at Halfway House, if it is still there… Tire myself in the final stretch up the rock outcrops as my chest bursts, climbing into the bazaar with its smells of fresh milk bread and home- made milk chocolate and feel the clouds as they dampen the warm skin on my neck.”

No wonder noted author Vikram Chandra says, ’Navtej Sarna’s shimmering meditation on love and loss becomes a compelling journey through the haunted landscapes of memory.’
It will be recalled that Sarna is brother of Doon’s own UNI Chief of Bureau, Jaskiran Chopra.