Finding Method in Madness

Heights Of Madness By Myra MacDonald;
Published by Rupa & Co; Price Rs. 395/- Pages 242.

by REPORTER@DAYAFTERINDIA.COM

For much too long India and Pakistan have locked horns over the control of Siachen glacier and its heights. By now people on both the sides are aware of the fact that more soldiers have become the victim of conditions than the bullets of each other and yet neither side is willing to vacate the place that was not meant for human habitation.

Myra MacDonald, former bureau chief of Reuters in India, became one of the chosen few to have visited the war zone from both the sides and continues to be baffled by the obstinacy of both the side. She has faithfully recorded her observations about the region, the soldiers and their emotions, or the lack of it, even in the face of death in God forsaken place. However, what sets her in a class apart is that her book is not just a compilation of facts and events as they occurred. She has made a genuine attempt to understand not only the historical undercurrents but also the cultural responses to war, death and life in general. Even more remarkable is her ability to find poetry in a region where human beings are battling nature for their bare existence. Apparently, the author is a romantic heart who has some how drifted in the world of the hard nosed journalism where more than the flight of romance cynicism rules the world.

We are told that Myra MacDonald has, based on her experiences and knowledge, made presentation on Siachen to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. What impact it made there is not known but about one thing we can be certain that unless a radical change takes place in the world and human relations, neither India nor Pakistan are going to trust the other in case of withdrawal. The Kargil conflict has only strengthened the Indian fears and it is not likely that any government in New Delhi will ever entertain the thought of such a withdrawal.

Credit is due to MacDonald for overcoming not only bureaucratic hurdles but also the challenges of nature in her pursuit of her obsession, but at the end of the day everything has been worth the effort. She has not only put everything in perspective but has also given additional meaning by trying to understand everything in the cultural context. In doing so, she also brings out the contrast between the western attitude to war and death and the sub-continental. However, one cannot help notice that while on the Indian side the soldiers are primarily driven by an archetypal response, the Pakistani soldiers have added to their armoury the element of suicide that has become so much a part of the Islamist soldiers all over the world.