Island by Sujit Saraf – A Tale Of Isolation And Caution

India-West News Desk

In Island, author Sujit Saraf takes a gripping dive into the 2018 incident of John Allen Chau, an American missionary who attempted to convert the fiercely isolated Sentinelese people of the Andaman Islands. Saraf masterfully blends fact and fiction, using this real-life tragedy as a springboard to explore the notions of nationhood, identity, and the audacity of intrusion.

The Sentinelese, an ancient tribe untouched by modernity, are central to Saraf’s narrative. The Indian government guards their isolation, partly due to their vulnerability to diseases as simple as the common cold. Saraf vividly captures their defiance of outside contact, describing how they fiercely reject all intrusions—including Chau’s, which ended fatally.

At the heart of Island is Mattoo, an anthropologist inspired by figures like Triloknath Pandit, who made the first friendly contact with the Sentinelese in 1991. Mattoo reluctantly accompanies a missionary modeled on Chau to North Sentinel Island, delving into ethical dilemmas and the complex dynamics of cultural disconnect.

Saraf critiques projects like the Joshua Project, which aims to convert non-Christian ethnic groups, framing it as an emblem of misguided zeal. He juxtaposes this with the Sentinelese, who are “Indian” only by colonial accident and remain utterly indifferent to the constructs of nationhood or the “friendly” gestures of the state.

Written with the pace of a thriller, Island transcends its plot to question the arrogance of modernity and the allure of cultural imposition. It compels readers to reflect on what it means to belong—or to deliberately not belong—in a world obsessed with assimilation. Saraf’s concise prose and incisive observations make Island a thought-provoking exploration of the clash between isolation and globalization.

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