Black Taj – a “faction” novel by Lady Mohini Kent.

There are seven races in the caste system in India, according to Lady Mohini Kent, writer of this novel.  They include Aryan, Dravidian and Aborigine. Some of the system is based on the person’s occupation.  Most important to a woman of any caste, though, is finding a good husband and Simi – a lively woman of good birth gets told by her Grandmother she must get married and in India, “one marries the family”.  The novel is set in the real-life situation of divides in India which started in the forties and were still going on in the sixties. These were based on class and religion.  The story is set with the backdrop of the Taj Mahal which took 21 years to build and a river which has not changed its course in 500 years, and with the allegation  in the 1920’s the British tried to sell the famous Taj Mahal temple built in recognition of Shah Jehan’s love of his wife.

 The anti-Muslim sentiment in Simi’s family leads Muslims to be referred to as “M’s”.  She gets advice from a yogi in  the caves who says to her – “learn to love. Become human”. The backdrop for the novel includes heat waves and monsoons, expensive bungalows and shanty towns, angry young men and rich old women, conflict and social upheaval, tradition and love, and lives which are changing forever. It is set in 1993, in the wake of the destruction of the Babri Masjid Mosque in Uttar Pradesh by Hindu activists, and Simi then falls for a doctor of a different faith and as Lady Mohini Kent says in the book, “Partition stands like a ghost between the star crossed lovers”.  

The reason I describe this novel as “faction” is that the story explores the effects of Partition and religious conflicts in India in 1947, as well as tackling unbiddable, forbidden love and as reviewer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown states, “and uses this to tell a much deeper and terrible tale”.

Its author – Lady Mohini Kent was born in India and came to the UK at the age of 21.  She studied psychology, graphic design and film production, and has written three other novels.  She has worked as assistant in charity roles and has written articles for The Times of India, India Today, BBC Radio and The Tablet.  She has directed Curry Tiffin with Ben Kinglsey and The Ramayana.  She lives in London.

The title of the novel is somewhat mysterious but there is a fable that Shah Jehan was planning to build another Taj only this time in black marble.  The current taj has semi precious stones and intricate inlay in multicoloured marble as part of its complex and awe inspiring make up. It is revered worldwide.

Black Taj- www.hoperoadpublishicn.com

Penny Nair Price