Pargat Singh Satoj’s novel, Khabar Ik Pind Di (News From a Village), is an unusual experiment in literary style. It is a fantasy in the form of magical realism. His prose exposes the barbaric layers of present day life in Punjabi villages and towns. As a chorus in a Greek play, Satoj’s narrator provides a continuous commentary on different events and characters. The late Balwant Singh Tarak revisits his village Meharpur from the country of the dead. He finds it plagued by a host of problems. The novel brilliantly documents the spreading filth and foulness in the village. Hiding behind the invisible over-coat of Sutardhar (stage director) Balwant Singh, Banti, the narrator, helps the reader catch glimpses of the worlds of fantasy and realism. This unconventional style of the author enables him to dispassionately cast glances on the bitter-sweet social, economic and political lives of the inhabitants. He defrocks the false gods of Punjabi culture. Fully conscious of the social concerns, troubling issues and the unsettling anxieties in the village, he nevertheless describes a contradictory world of magic and realism. This novel is a literary treat for the reader looking to gain insights into the vagaries of modern village life.
