The Inexplicable Unhappiness of Ramu Hajjam

Taj Hassan

In the small village of Tesri, on the banks of the river Kareh, the villagers earn a living by serving the high-caste landowners of the neighbouring Bhagatpur as labourers, shopkeepers and handymen. Life has gone on much the same for several hundred years, until the day Ramu Hajjam, the local barber, is beaten senseless for accidentally cutting the cheek of Bhagatpur’s subedar. Burning with injustice, his son turns to the mysterious young men across the river – who call themselves Maoists – to exact revenge, starting off a chain of events that threatens to forever disrupt the delicate balance of power between the two villages. Sparingly told, The Inexplicable Unhappiness of Ramu Hajjam is a searing portrayal of poverty, inequality and caste violence in the hinterlands of India.