THE HELL OF HEAVEN

The Hell of Heaven’ is one of the most famous novels of Shanta Kumar which has a multiplicity of theme ranging from petty politics to the commuting nationalism which represents integrity of character, sense of belonging and commitment to the human cause. It also is story of Promod and Savitri, their hopes and illusions, their commitments and disillusions which ultimately flower into cherished values of life. The best and the worst of politics, the best and worst of women exploitation find simultaneous place in the novel. The novel also tells about the hard mountainous life of the people living beyond Rohtang pass in Lahaul and Spiti valleys. The novel is a very interesting exposition of the hill life and the dreams, the faltering, the illusions and the disillusions of the hill people. The author is sensitive to the smallest incidents and events that take place in the life of villagers. The astute and crooked politicians also find their share in the descriptions of the novel which acquires epic dimensions as it reaches its culminations.

A seasoned politician and a sensitive creative writer, Shanta Kumar has strode to eminence inch by inch by having gone through the crisscross welters of political and social life and the vicissitudes he faced because of his honest cravings for an honest deal in politics and integrity of character.
Born in 1934 in an ordinary family of Kangra district, he was early influenced by the RSS philosophy which compelled him to abandon his home at the early age of 17 to join RSS as a full timer. He participated in the Jammu and Kashmir Satyagrah and was imprisoned for 8 months at the age of 19. During emergency in 1975, he spent 19 months in Nahan Jail. It was in the Nahan Jail that the revolutionary creativity of Shanta Kumar flourished and made him write 5 novels during the jail period. He was elected MLA for the Himachal Assembly in 1972. Shanta Kumar remained Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh twice and later on he was donned as Union Cabinet Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government. He was Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha from 2008 to 2014 and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 from Kangra.