When Defense of One Makes All Suspect

The Defender of the Faith

Author: Prakash Lothe

Publisher: Archway Publishing, Bloomington, Indiana, 2019

Full disclosure: I was duped. I honestly thought this book was non-fiction when I agreed to review it. Instead, I found myself engaged in a story that not only kept me interested in knowing how it would end but also learning a lot of history with respect to India, Hinduism, and Pakistan – all substantially verified when I did my checking with historical accounts. Prakash Lothe, a winner of the Best Marathi Novel Award of 2017 (presented by the government of Maharashtra, India), has done an excellent job of engaging his readers throughout the book, and giving, me at least, a surprise ending that I never expected. More about that later.

The plotline comes, to a certain extent, from the author’s own family experiences. The main character of the story, the Defender, was based on his grandfather. The hero of the story is based on his own father. The author himself is worked into the storyline as the astute son of the hero. All this in an early twentieth century India, under the rule of the British.

Lothe has much to teach us. We learn how the caste system actually plays out in everyday Indian life. We see how some traditions of the Brahmins literally left some women, especially widows, marked for life. We see the full extent of the wider family’s responsibility in the welfare of other members. Poverty seems to impact so many aspects of life. It determines the degree to which one lacks a proper diet, accommodations, mode of transport, education, medical care, and a career.

There are other well taught lessons that are more universal in their application.  These deal with the inter-relationship of a stepparent, parent, and child, as well as parental and sibling in-laws. As is to be expected, the root cause is ‘money’ and its manifestation as such is magnified where poverty is prevalent.

Having black sheep in the family, hiding the truth and/or bad news from one’s elders allegedly for their own good, and the typical disagreements between parent and child (primarily father and son) with respect to tradition, national politics, and ideologies – all are front and center throughout the book. Also major as a theme is the treatment of women in two different societies. 

The most predominant thread, however, is clearly woven as both a personal and societal drama between the ideologies of two different religions – Hinduism and Christianity, with Islam playing a supporting role. The hero battles the self-induced urge to abandon the faith of his father, the “Defender”, and convert to the religion of his own heroes. The outcome is not what you would expect, but I won’t spoil it for you here.

That said, the book is recommended for those who care about the plight of others. In it, one will find much to identify with and much to pause and consider with respect to how he/she relates to the issues involved.

p.s. Readers may find this account from Wikipedia of interest: “The title "Defender of the Faith" reflects the Sovereign's position as the supreme governor of the Church of England, who is thus formally superior to the archbishop of Canterbury. The original Latin phrase Fidei Defensor is represented on all current British coins by the abbreviations, F D or FID DEF.”  Lothe, has applied this title to the title character of his book, with the faith being Hinduism. 

n  Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, December 26, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

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