Mystic Spies

AT A time when most writers are obsessed with things present, Shauna Singh Baldwin8217;s The Tiger Claw spins a tale of espionage, a love s...

AT A time when most writers are obsessed with things present, Shauna Singh Baldwin8217;s The Tiger Claw spins a tale of espionage, a love story set in the Second World War.

This fairytale-like yet true story traces the life of Noor Inayat Khan as she is forced to carry her relationship with Jewish pianist Armand in private after incurring the wrath of her family. She flees to England and turns a spy when France is invaded by Germany in 1940 to serve her adopted country with the hope of a chance reunion with her lover. The Tiger Claw has all the ingredients to bring alive an era that has dimmed with each passing year. Codenamed Madeleine, Noor worked against the Occupation after the Nazi invasion of France. She trained as a radio operator, volunteered to serve in a special intelligence agency, fired with visions of serving Churchill with great acts of courage.

Captured by an act of betrayal, Noor, the daughter of Sufi mystic and musician Hazrat Inayat Khan, is forced to write stories for her captor8217;s childrenin captivity.

And then begins a search by her brother Kabir, an RAF pilot, determined to retrieve his sister. Kabir has had an uneasy relationship with his sister, coloured partly by the affection bestowed exclusively on her by their father, and by her love for Armand. He begins his search which ends with an admission that he has lost her to the war.

What might have turned into a simple war-time love story instead takes the shape of a discourse on tolerance, a comment on clash of cultures in a war-torn world, extracting a terrible price in the end.

If What the Body Remembers was Baldwin8217;s intimate account of Partition, the most blighted moment in the subcontinent8217;s history, The Tiger Claw offers glimpses of a fairytale romance, minus the happy ending. Like other war-time espionage, this one too has too many gaping wounds to be sutured and too many memories to be sifted through and Baldwin goes through them carefully.

Move to 1995 in France, a memorial service, and Baldwin makes a comment which ties her World War II book to the present. 8220;The ambassador of India was mentioning his great pride that an Indian woman had been of use to the French resistance, cementing ancient ties between the two countries8230; He carefully omitted mentioning Noor was Muslim, for she might then inspire other Muslims fighting Hindu fascism resurging in India.8221;

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Recovering from the blow to the Babri Masjid, India had had a second brush with communal history, and Baldwin8217;s observation perhaps holds the promise of another novel set in the 21st century.

Incidentally, the Tiger Claw, the centrepiece of the story, is a claw encased in gold, a talisman handed down by Noor8217;s ancestor Tipu Sultan which is supposed to bring luck. But obviously luck deserted the spy. Or maybe it was destined to land in the hands of her lover Armand who lived to tell the story of the incredible Sufi spy.