Green Over Red

Green over Red is a symbol of many good and evil things, prevailing one upon another in society. Readers themselves can explore this while reading the novel.

The novel shows that the means adopted for the eradication of evils in society fail and often backfire, becoming the cause of even greater evils.

Heroes and champions, both men and women, chosen for the remedy, appear on the horizon like stars but dwindle down on earth like meteors.

It is not only the measures taken by the government but also social revolutions that meet the same fate. The inner contradictions devour the heroes, relegating them to penance. It appears that everything is necessary and preordained.

The story starts in the crime-infested jungles of West Champaran, a district of Bihar bordering Nepal, where not only birds chirp but ""Tharu"" girls also frolic. Then, the story moves on to West Bengal.

The two bosom friends, Dev and Abhigyan, both brilliant and from the same college in West Bengal, stand opposite to each other ideologically. Dev becomes a police officer in Bihar, and Abhigyan, influenced by Marxism, becomes a social activist. Abhigyan loses three fingers while making a bomb, whereas Dev becomes mentally ill after the interrogation and confession of a dreaded criminal. Both friends finally meet and discuss their inner jungles, which have grown over time. Finally, Abhigyan opens a school, but Dev is still sick. And thus, the novel ends.