The Seasons of Trouble: New book stunningly portrays human cost of Sri Lankan war

The 30-year long liberation struggle of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka had led to a mini publishing industry since the 1980s. Most of the books of this genre were on predictable lines, whether they reported exciting adventure from the warfront during the IPKF, narrated stories from the interiors of the Tamil land, or profiled the exaggerated legend of LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran. In the end, they all sounded the same.

However, the last phase of the war on Tamils by the Sri Lankan army that saw the end of the LTTE along with death of about 40,000 civilians changed the game. It was a war without witnesses where brute force scorched everything on its way. But for what trickled out through LTTE propagandists and short YouTube videos, the war-zone was an information blackhole. Nobody had a clear picture of the last days of the conflict until the UN, and later Gordon Weiss, its spokesperson in Colombo, spoke out.

The Cage, by Gordon Weiss was the first true account of the final days of the war that exposed the culpability of Mahinda Rajapaksa regime. It vividly documented the excesses of the Sri Lankan army, particularly how it targeted and killed civilians. It had extensive accounts by UN officials trapped inside the war zone that detailed how the military trained their guns on civilian areas when the UN aid workers sent the government their GPS coordinates. The book lent a credible voice to the people and institutions that stood up against the Rajapaksa cabal and its proxies. It was shocking, painful and written with a lot of courage.

Three years later, Bangalore-based journalist-writer Rohini Mohan has come out with another arresting account of the final days of the war - The Seasons of Trouble . It’s honest, gripping and humane. And what sets it apart is the creative technique used in narrating the political and human sides of the Sri Lankan tragedy through the lives of three real characters - Mugil, a former LTTE woman combatant who was recruited in her teens; Sarva, who was a victim of torture by the Sri Lankan state; and Indra, Sarva’s mother, who is an example of the human collateral damage of the war. It’s non-fiction presented in absorbing fictional style.

The book begins with a dramatic and chilling account of the white van abduction of Sarva, who was all ready to travel to Greece as a sailor. What follows is a never ending tale of torture by terrorism investigators who accuse him of complicity with the LTTE. It cuts to his doting mother, Indra, who soon gets drawn into his mess. What unfolds before them is the brutality of their own state, and even fellow citizens, because they are Jaffna Tamils. At one stage, it looks as if Sarva has no chance of redemption, but the resolute mother doesn’t give up.

The reader is also taken to the north of the island and the warfront through Mugil and her epic journey as a child soldier, a wife, a mother, and finally as a refugee in the squalid Manik farms that the government had set up after vanquishing the LTTE and shelling all the Tamils out of their homes. Mugil’s story is also about her family, which gets directly trapped in the conflict, the Tamil landscape, their culture, their aspirations and their struggle for survival. Through Mugil, one also gets to see the real battlefield, the dispensability of Tamil lives in the eyes of the Sri Lankan state, and their never ending hope for survival.

There is never a dull moment in the book as Rohini skilfully and sensitively segues between the lives of the principal characters, unveiling before the reader the human cost of the war and the brutality of the state while clearly steering clear of an accidental pro-LTTE stand. It’s engaging, painful and so intimate. Her attention to the socio-political and cultural context of Sri Lanka is immaculate.

The most stunning aspect of The Seasons of Trouble is the immensity of details and the craft of writing. Although she is not a Sri Lankan, Rohini displays an extraordinary understanding of the native life that shows up in the book in subtle ways. In terms of writing, she uses interesting techniques with a fluid narration that often make situations stunningly real. The long sequence, in which a British officer interviews Sarva for his asylum, is a vivid example. At one stage, the conversation slips into the use of AK-47 and what follows is a remarkably engaging piece of writing. There are many such riveting moments in the book.

Rohini took five years to document and write the The Seasons of Trouble and it clearly shows.