Profound humanity

The Cellist of Sarajevo
By Steven Galloway, Atlantic, Rs 325

When the Bosnian Serbs began shelling the city of Sarajevo in April 1992, they began the longest city siege in the history of modern warfare. It lasted till February 1996, thus outlasting the siege of Leningrad during World War II. The city was bombarded, and snipers imperilled the lives of people. The danger inspired, as extreme danger often does, acts of profound humanity and poignancy. This deeply moving novel is centred on one such act.

In the afternoon of May 27, 1992, mortar shells killed 22 persons while they were waiting to buy bread behind the market on Vase Miskina. In a unique protest and display of courage against this needless killing of innocent and helpless people, a renowned local cellist, Vedran Smailovic, played at the site in memory of the dead for 22 days. The piece he chose to play was Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor for organ and strings. Most lovers of Western classical music know the somewhat bizarre history of this piece. It is a reconstruction from a fragment of a second movement from a Sonata in G Minor thought to be the work of the Venetian composer, Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751). The reconstruction was done by Giazotto in 1958, and it is seen as his work rather than as a part of the oeuvre of Albinoni. (There is a rendering of this work available in CD, with the Berlin Philharmonic playing under the baton of Herbert von Karajan.)

The novel tries to capture the lives of the ordinary people of Sarajevo through the experiences of three individuals and the travails they undergo. The experiences of these three come across as if the author is creating a rondo in words. The writing is always taut, but evocative. The lives, as they unfold, remind us that sometimes, to be a hero, one has only to behave like an ordinary, decent human being.

In Sarajevo under the siege, fetching water — a necessary but scarce item — is an act of courage and heroism. Kenan has to perform this act every four days, putting his life at great risk. He gets water for his family and old Mrs Ristovski, who lives in the apartment below. Kenan is not particularly fond of the old lady, but he knows that if he doesn’t get water for her, no one else will. As he sets out in the morning for the long trek to the brewery where water is still available, he knows it could be his last time.

Dragan is one of the few people in the city who still has work. He works in the city’s bakery. It is a long trudge from the middle of the town where he lives. As he walks, he recalls the city as it was before the war started. He sees a man being shot by a sniper, and the wife of a friend of his has a narrow escape with only a flesh wound. Dragan cannot stop himself from dragging the dead man away from the road into the shelter of a house, even though he knows he is an easy target for the snipers.

The third character is a young girl called Arrow, who is an expert sniper. She is given the job of protecting the cellist. She spots her opponent and kills him even though he chose not to kill the cellist. On the last day of the cellist’s “performance’’, Arrow is ordered to take on a different job which involves the shooting of civilians. She refuses to do this even though she knows the heavy price she will have to pay. She waits in her rooms for “them’’ to come for her. In the black and white of war, the refusal to obey orders is a crime. So Arrow waits for the knock on her door, and recalls “the notes she heard only yesterday, a melody that is no longer there but feels very close”.

Kenan as he returns home with the water, Dragan as he tries to get to work, and Arrow with her rifle — all of them encounter the cellist as he plays serenely. He is the music as long as the music lasts.