Irani writes with an easy assurance of an Indian expatriate who knows the country of his origin well. There was, however, no need to feed the stereotype with which the West associates India, says Sonal Prakash
The Cripple and His Talismans
Author: Anosh Irani
Publisher: Fourth Estate, Rs 499
The Cripple and his Talismans is a novel which once you have finished reading it will linger in your thoughts for a long time. It is at once haunting as it is uncanny. This does not mean that it is without flaws but they do not outnumber its pluses. The novel is about a cripple who has lost an arm and is coming to terms with this painful reality. He is seen running from pillar to post in search of it, but meets with little success. Since he has lost his arm, strange things seem to be happening to him, and this is the subject of the novel.
The book would seem bizarre at least in the initial pages. It starts making sense to the reader only after the first few chapters. Undoubtedly, the plot seems vague, but to be fair to Anosh Irani, the merit of the story lies in this ambiguity. The readers would find the chapters unconnected and unrelated which may add to their frustration, but trust this reviewer, this peculiarity adds to the charm of the book.
I would put The Cripple and his Talismans in the genre of magic realism. The element of the supernatural, a prerequisite for a work to be magically real, is quite obvious in the work. The chapter on the lady who sells rainbows and lights a thousand lamps for the protagonist conforms this assumption. Each chapter deals with what is extraordinary and unrealistic, making the readers delve into the divine mysteries of the world. But this does not mean that everything in the novel is far from reality. The dirt and squalor of Bombay, with its share of beggars and lepers, and how people live in slums are just a few instances pointed out by Irani, which give the reader a peek into the lives of the ordinary men and women living in this giant metropolis of India. In the book, Irani devotes as much space to write about the daily drudgery that his characters have to go through as he works towards making his narrative almost dreamlike.
In the process, Irani has managed to achieve stunning larger-than-life effects. Whether it is mention of the ‘giant under water’ or Baba Rakhu’s dungeon where he sells arms and legs to the cripples in Bombay, all these episodes develop in the readers an attitude of curiosity and wonderment.
Even as the supernatural element is evident in the novel, there is a realistic portrayal of the human psyche reflected in the encounters of the protagonist with others, most prominently his schoolmate Viren. He is consumed with an all-empowering jealousy of a child who cannot stomach his rival’s achievements in school and causes him bodily harm. Towards the end, it dawns on the readers that the cripple is desperately trying to atone for his sins — how he physically hurt his lover Malaika and classmate Viren.
Irani writes with an easy assurance of an Indian expatriate who knows the country of his origin well. But one does wonder why in order to narrate his tale he needed to feed the stereotype with which the Westerners associate India. The sordid details concerning lepers and beggars who according to Irani swarm the Bombay streets, how people lead their lives in the slums of Bombay, the apathetic bureaucracy revealed in his telephonic conversations with government employees, to point just a few instances. In fact, the book is full of countless examples which portray India as a country ridden with such problems.
The humour in the novel, which has its share of the comic, is, however, droll as well as dark. The reader, like the characters in the novel, gets accustomed to deriving amusement from all that is repugnant and wretched in life. The irony is that even amidst the pervading negativity the novel continues to hold the interest of its readers.
The Cripple and his Talismans is not an easy read. Someone who begins to read this book will definitely feel a little lost and wonder where the author is trying to lead him. The chapters would seem disjointed and one would feel as if the author is rambling on and on cluelessly. However, those who are patient would be amply rewarded as the plotgradually unfolds itself to rivet the readers.