Aroon Raman’s third and latest work, Skyfire, fictionalises two important yet not often discussed issues in fictional writings; that of global weather catastrophes and child abuse and trafficking. The author intelligently interweaves seemingly polar issues of uncontrolled weather changes and mysteriously caused absences of young slum kids in this work. By keeping a young child at the center of the action the link is strongly drawn between an international issue of gigantic proportions and the missing cases of a few kids from the slums of Delhi. Towards the beginning of the novel the two issues appear as far removed from each other as could be and it is not easy for the readers to form connections between them. The themes, characters as well as the geographical space appears too stretched out in time. But the author moves the story forward deftly with gentle sprinkles of twists along the way. Characters in the story are fairly well-rounded as we have glimpses of both their personal and professional lives. The journalist-professor pairing of Chandra and Meenu along with the high-profile Intelligence personnel Hassan are quite close to real life and thus extremely engaging. It is in search of one of their slum students that the award winning journalist Chandrashekhar and a widely published DU history professor Meenakshi Pirzada find themselves as protagonists in the national plan of decoding unexplained weather fluctuations.
What is an especially praiseworthy aspect of the novel is that it brings the global issue of weather disturbances to the very center of national and international politics. The highest brains of the country are burning the midnight oil to forestall the imminent devastation that looks at them in the face. On the other hand, a seemingly lesser issue of the missing Gopal is what keeps Chandra and Meenu in a frenzy. For them the young boy takes precedence over any other national problem of greater magnitudes. Chandra and Meenu are well educated and socially responsible citizens who run a school for slum kids. They even get involved in the overall welfare of the children and go an extra mile jeopardising their own safety at times. How these two situations converge and push Chandra and Meenu in matters of mainstream national security issues keep the readers hooked onto the very last page. Interestingly the novel spans out of India and towards our neighboring Pakistan and Bhutan, bringing the three together at a moment of inevitable crisis. Keeping the age old animosity away, higher security officials of the two countries come forward to tackle the situation through best possible means. One thing leads to the other and our protagonists Chandra and Meenu are pushed to the center of action with the country’s intelligent services.
A major twist in the plot comes through the characters of Harshvardhan Dharma and Vaishali. The sinister brother-sister duo are mouthpieces of all evil aspirations of the business class reflected in their greed for wealth, power and name. Harsh, as he insists on being addressed, garbs his plans of destroying the country under the charitable Dharma Enterprises he runs. Though respected for being at the forefront in extending all kinds of assistance to the needy and thereby earning a respectable name equivalent to being a messiah of sorts, he had been working all along to reduce the country to dust. The character of Harsh is a well written one and the author reveals only a little bit about him with every turn of the page. And so it does comes as a surprise for the unprepared reader to make connections between Harsh, unstable weather conditions and in what could be seen as kidnappings of slum children. Yet the story manages to keep the readers engaged as the latter gets to observe the working of higher state agencies in critical matters even though in a fictional format. Characterisation of Pant and Das is also quite believable as both act true to their profiles. Raman writes with what seems like a deep understanding of the workings of intelligence and security systems of the country. He creates an artificial situation and places it in a completely real background bringing home the seriousness of the issues discussed. The links created between the missing children and deteriorating weather conditions are drawn to express the intensity of both issues. For the author then, both situations deserve equal and continuous attention from all levels of governing authorities. By placing Chandra and Meenu in the center of all action along with Hassan, the writer seems to imply value of the contribution of regular men and women resolving issues overlooking international boundaries. On a larger context, it is time for the world to devote the amount of resources; both in terms of money and manpower, required to check the deteriorating weather conditions.
Skyfire is Raman's third novel after The Shadow Throne and The Treasure Of Kafur. This work reflects to a certain level the writer's own concern with contemporary happenings and the acknowledgment of his responsibility as someone whose opinion will be heard and paid heed to. Though the handling of the issues and their presentation keep the readers hooked on, the editorial lapse of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors hampers the reading experience to an extent. But if readers can overlook these minor errors, Skyfire is an engaging and thought-provoking fictional work.
The reviewer is a PhD Research Scholar in Comparative Indian literature, DU