The interesting fact about Sarna's The Exile is that it is an attempt by an Indian to chronicle the life and times of the last Sikh maharaja who oversaw the British taking away the Koh-i-noor, the most priced possession in his toshakhana (treasury).
While attempts were made by foreign writers to chronicle the life of Maharaja Duleep Singh, Sarna's book "explores the emotional and psychological dimension of the various dilemmas that he must have faced" under the British tutelage.
But wouldn't an Indian author, writing about an Indian maharaja deliberately try to glorify a king condemned by history, asked one more discerning reader during the book reading.
Interestingly, about five years ago Khushwant Singh had cautioned the author not to make Duleep Singh a hero when he discussed his interest in writing on such a subject.
"I am extremely aware of that; he's not a hero, he is not a superman. In fact, when I met Khushwant Singh whose comments are on the cover he'd warned me not to make Maharaja Duleep Singh a hero. So I told him I will not make him a hero but will try to tell only his story," replied Sarna.
Sample what the author had to say about his subject:
"The fact is that Maharaja Duleep Singh is a weak, irresolute man; he is a man who can go from saying I want to go back to India, giving up on every thing and then saying, no, no, but this winter there is a great shooting in Sardinia and I want to go duck shooting."
"In fact, Duleep Singh comes out as a man whose personality was deeply impacted by the sense of loss and non-belonging. I agree with you that there is a fair danger of doing that (glorifying somebody condemned by history) but that's where we have to be true to our own conscience."
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