Chennai: India weaved a stunning success story with underground nuclear testings at Pokhran. But after the fanfare and celebration what left behind for the people of Pokhran was allegedly a nightmare.
Decades later, author Uday Singh is exploring the human side of the story through ‘Pokhran-a novel’. Excerpts from an interview with him.
It has been decades since the Pokhran underground nuclear testing. What made you choose the incident as the premise of your novel?
Primary motivation to choose this topic was my attachment to the town of Pokhran and desire to initiate a debate about the oft-forgotten damage to the surrounding population, to draw attention to the fact that most great successes come at the cost of great sacrifices.
Pokhran, the novel, highlights the damage inflicted by the nuclear test on one individual (the protagonist, Chaitanya) and family, and that sets the stage for broader discussion around how do we make things right. The nuclear tests in 1974 and the 1998 were hugely helpful in ushering India on to the world stage, and there is no denying that they were great successes both from technological progress perspective as well as from national pride perspective.
Pokhran nuclear testing was one of the most successful moments of India on the world stage. Do you think this was done without considering the lives of people living there?
There is no denying that the Pokhran nuclear test was one of the proudest moments for India and was instrumental in heralding India on to the world stage. At the same time, even though denied by the authorities, the impact has been felt by the residents of the Pokhran region.
What was your process of gathering information for the book?
The book is a dramatised and fictionalised story of the protagonist, Chaitanya, that borrows heavily from real life events and anecdotes. As indicated earlier, writing this book was a multi-year journey in itself. There were multiple sources of inspiration that were the primary catalysts, and then followed the research.
Having authored a book on the topic, what ideas and resources do you suggest to redress the situation?
This is a great question, and sadly there is no credible way to redress the existing situation. In these situations, the best way is prevention. For the damage that has already been done, there needs to be a thorough review and the victims compensated in a form that they see fit- for some, it might be an apology, for some it might monetary compensation, for some others it might be support with hospital visits. For future nuclear tests, there needs to be proper involvement of residents and an active debate taken up with the local community.