I have no words to write about The Artist. But it would be right to say that I have never read anything better than this till date. It is said that artists always remain alive — whether they are present in this world physically or not. In this way, D (the protagonist) has settled in the hearts of readers through this humble effort of his novel and is immortal. He fulfills his mother’s dream, and somewhere his mother’s soul must have found peace too.

        In this novel, every aspect of a woman has been beautifully portrayed — whether she is a mother, sister, wife, daughter, friend, or even a mistress. Whoever reads this novel, it will definitely leave a deep impression on them. The characters feel as though they are narrating their story right before your eyes, as if in a film or a stage show. The atmosphere of the novel comes alive just as it is depicted. The reader gets completely lost within it, and their interest keeps growing. Its characters make the reader deeply emotional — there will hardly be any reader who is not moved or stirred within by this novel.

        Reading this novel, every person’s own life story surfaces — that they keep on struggling in life. If their hard work is sincere, then whether they are alive or have passed on, they will surely leave their mark on people.

        Every event in this novel is connected to the next. Every character is suffering in some way. Similarly, if we look around us, no one is truly content.

        When D’s mother sends him away, there are tears in her eyes. His friend (wife) shares her own story with him. And when D learns the story of his sister, mother, and father — what sacrifices his mother made for him — his many days of hunger, his straying onto the path of theft, spending time in jail, and finally putting his entire life down on paper before going to rest in his mother’s lap forever — all of this flows from the reader’s eyes like pearls. When he goes to his mother’s lap forever, it feels as though his mother is very proud of him — that having won the battle of life, he has now come to rest in her embrace.

        A person, in the pursuit of building a life, forgets to actually live it, and always remains caught in the cycle of joys and sorrows. He stays distant from his relationships. A time comes when he even sells his conscience — only to make himself famous. He remains ensnared in the fast pace of life.

        They say, “Dil Dariya Samundron Doonge” (The heart is deeper than rivers and oceans) — and there is absolute truth in this. One day the stars of the sky may be counted and the depths of the sea may be measured, but the depth of the human heart can never be measured. In the novel, D’s life is filled with sorrow, and those he meets are also suffering in some way. They are all running from their lives, wanting to build a new world. Even though D never finds success, he has immortalized himself by sharing his life in his novel — calling himself a failed artist — and through this novel, he has found his identity after all.

        From this novel, there is much to learn — including how to fight against sorrow.

— Veerpal Kaur

Professor – LPU (Budhlada)