Moving and Emotional: A Review of ‘Tears of My Motherland’ – A Story of Indian Migrants’ Struggle for Freedom

Tears of My Motherland – With time, facts hardly remain facts. They become a story.

With time, facts hardly remain facts. They become a story.

Tears of My Motherland by Ranabir Sen : Spoiler Free Feature

Overview:
The book is an interesting dialogue about a specific part of history that is not widely popular. It talks about the time faced by Indian nationals in Vietnam in the 1940s during Japanese rule. There are many other elements there that tie the whole story together. The book is written from a non-fiction point of view but the story is told through fictitious characters. This just adds to the whole experience. The book focuses on diaspora, the need for belonging, and finding it hard to achieve that because life isn’t always what you want it to be, it’s so much more. And ‘Tears of My Motherland’ tells you about that.

Storyline
The story revolves around the character, Ranabir, who is an Indian based in the Philippines for business. He is only on a business trip to Ho Chi Minh city and he meets quite a few people during that, some new and some old. Everyone brings a different flavor to the story, a different emotion.

Characters
You see characters develop in their personal space, they develop different perspectives, all up for debate. The characters of both past and present are all living in their rights and with their ambition, but humans are capable of doing more. And that is what the story is, it is about knowing more, it is about learning more.

Writing Style
This is a dialogue-heavy story with a lot of information. But the information is presented in small quantities and that makes it digestible. There is a lot of show and tell, all of it in equal, necessary margins. There is past and there is present without them being confusing and you can follow the story clearly.

Excerpt from the Book
“We stopped at the iconic image of ‘Napalm Girl’ everyone has seen.

It is an image hard to forget. A young girl, naked, runs screaming toward the camera in agony after napalm attack incinerated her village, her clothes, and then her skin.”

Who should read this book?
This book is apt for people interested in modern and war history. It pokes you, it pushes you to know more, and it makes you want to peel the layers of these different truths.
With time, facts hardly remain facts. They become a story.