Ganga Ratan Bidesi by Mrityunjay - A Jnanpith Publication, New Delhi

'Ganga Ratan Bidesi' is a saga spanning centuries, continents and generations of indentured labour sent far away near exile to South Africa by the British. Devastated by the effect of Permanent settlement of Lord Cornwallis most of the farmers of small-holding became landless and came under the draconian claws of Zamindars who extracted everything they could to feed their British masters and to fill their coffers. On the other hand, all black slaves had deserted their respective farms and mines owned by British colonial masters after the Slavery was formally abolished. Their enterprises needed skilled labour immediately. Indian sub-continent was further impoverished due to its rising population, forcing a large section of landless labour to drift to other sources of livelihood. British intermediaries lured them to go to their far away colonies of British in lieu of a guaranteed home, remuneration, health services, and as a whole a better life. 

One of such ill-fated farmer was the great grandfather of Ganga Ratan Bidesi who was loaded along with with many like him in the Ship 'Truro' in 1860 and sailed to Natal ( South Africa) to work in sugar cane farms of the British colony. Hence, begins the most treacherous and trying life of this dislocated family which lands successively in one trap of exploitation to the other.

Set in the backdrop of the Indigo cultivation and the resultant landlessness of the peasants, this novel spans the freedom movement with a focus on Gandhiji’s metamorphosis from an activist in South Africa to a Mahatma in India. The tale meanders through many places, movements, lives of people and circumstances which surround this dislocated family for generations.

Ganga Ratan Bidesi culminates in present day Bengal and Bihar. With exquisite beauty and poise, Mrityunjay paints a picture of Calcutta and Howrah through the decaying decades, yet resplendent with life and hope.

Above all, Ganga Ratan Bidesi signifies the triumph of love over all else, despite being strangled by an unending misery.

The Bhojpuri novel is available on Amazon.com with the title 'Ganga Ratan Videshi' by The Jnanpith, New Delhi.