The Upheaval

"The Konkani language has a rich, complex history; stone inscriptions and copper plates with Konkani words have been dated to the second century. It is sometimes described as a dialect of Marathi but is, in fact, recognized as one of the official 22 languages in the Indian Constitution and has many dialects of its own, some of which are already lost and several are endangered due to language assimilation. Linguists say that it’s actually a fusion of multiple middle Indo-Aryan languages. As a coastal language, it also has many foreign influences on its grammar and vocabulary. The Upheaval is about what happens to a self-sufficient agricultural community when the mining industry takes over. It was quite sensational when it first came out because of how it tackled this story as gritty realism. And it was one of the earliest modernist Indian novels to deal with environmental damage as a theme. Some context: after the Second World War , when Japan was doing some serious nation-rebuilding, Goa was still under Portuguese rule. Now they saw the opportunity to sell huge amounts of iron and steel to Japan. So they began granting 99-year leases to small Goanese businessmen for mining iron ore. Even after Goa was freed in 1961, the Indian government didn’t do much to change things. Instead, they gave these miners major tax concessions. So the miners kept destroying forests and rivers without recourse or checks. And the pollution and lack of waste management caused serious environmental damage as well as destruction of agricultural communities. Naik wrote about all of this with graphic and grim detail. He came from a rural farming family himself and grew up poor. His colorful characters are true to life and his language has that rich Konkani lilt—even in the English translation—with specific metaphors and similes that are true to their time and place and engage the senses beautifully. Some critics have found the plotting uneven but it is a landmark Konkani novel for many reasons. A classic in its own time, really."