The Powerful, The Powerless is a serious novel by Shiva Dhuli. I need to put it right at the top because this side of the novel is important and those who want to read something light and casual should be filtered already. If you like serious novels, this review will serve you the best! 🙂

The Story:

Let’s begin right with the story. This is a story of a poor man Bharat who keeps on hoping for a better ‘tomorrow’ and we all know that some particular tomorrow seldom comes. The world outside is very cruel in the imaginary city that the author has created. Bharat is the central protagonist of the novel who started his life journey witnessing domestic violence, poverty, hunger, and abusive life outside the home as well. Having seen and experienced all that, he is a determined personality and wants to achieve something bigger in his life, by his own hard work. However, the road is not plain and many twists and turns are about to come in his life. With the habit of doing things the way he does, seeing things seriously and with a vision, standing for his rights and share, he settled in a city where he spent the most difficult part of his life. Though he braves his hardships and becomes a professor and also starts liking a colleague, things change in his life and he ends up on a hospital bed waiting for his turn to get a kidney transplant. How? Why? What happens? Will he be able to marry the girl he loved? What happened between him and Kansakumar, the CM of the state Bharat lives in? There are many things to know in the novel and you will know everything as you move on. 

Critical Insights:

The author has rightly observed the harsh realities of society and wonderfully crafted that in a well-woven story. The storyline moves slowly and that’s why it will attract only serious readers who can be patient enough to let the characters, the plot and the issues open up. Politics is all bad – a theme that you might experience as you go deeper into the text. The novelist, Shiva Dhuli, has kept repeating this as a refrain and you will certainly notice that. He did not spare anyone, even those who are there with high ambitions but not the courage or determination to battle for things they want to have. The criminal episodes, the legal episodes, the torments of the protagonist, the storytelling, the flashbacks… these things have been captured wonderfully by the novelist and I am sure that readers who have an eye for traditional and composite fiction will love the same. However, I would have loved to see a little more pace in the storyline. A few more characters who could be developed could have added a little depth to the novel. 

Conclusion:

The novel is a serious piece of writing with a powerful message for the readers. It is not one of the typical contemporary books that can be enjoyed on the window seat during a train journey. The Powerful, The Powerless rather requires serious reading and a conscious, attentive mind to decipher the message within the novel. The story of Bharat is the story of all those youths who want to do something great in their life. On the other hand, Kansakumar represents all those corrupt and bad politicians who can do anything for their chairs. In between, there are more than 300 pages that is a wonderful piece of writing, overall! Recommended for serious readers. You can get a copy from Amazon India right now!

Buy the novel – click here for Amazon Link 

Review by Rupesh for BookWorm Reviews