SAD, HE IS BAD

BY BISWADEEP GHOSH

After Salman Rushdie became a major success in the West, Rukun Advani had coined a term for young Indians writing in English. Referring to Amitav Ghosh, Advani called this group the Ghosh Generation. Upamanyu Chatterjee belongs to the same period, although his manner of storytelling is different from most. Chatterjee's debut novel English August: An Indian Story became a rage everywhere. A young urban bureaucrat forced to face a new set of social realities in a small town, the plight of his protagonist Agastya Sen was something many identified with. After just one novel, Chatterjee had turned into a household name among those reading fiction in English.

Many years have gone by. Weight Loss is Chatterjee's fourth work and, it must be said, his most ambitious till date. The wonderfully designed jacket tells us that the novel is only "tangentially about weight loss", and that it is a "comedy of sexual and spiritual degradation." At the centre of all the action is Bhola, and there is nothing bhola (implying, innocent) about the guy to begin with. A licentious pervert since childhood, he fantasises about anybody and everybody, be it men, women or eunuchs. While at school, Bhola's delinquent ways are such that most readers will take some time to accept the character for what it is.

In some ways, this is a horror story. The young lad gets passionately attracted to people from the lower strata of the society. He has a relationship with a couple that sell vegetables: both the man and his wife. After being expelled from school, he eventually goes off to study in a faraway place. He scores fantastic marks in his school final exams, but that does not matter to him. He wants to return to Titli and Moti, the vegetable-selling couple. That's all. Because of the way Bhola leads his life, he seems destined to die in the end. At 37, after eight relationships, four with men and the rest with women, his life ends in an unusual manner that need not be described here.

So, what is so remarkable about a book that tells the story of a pervert? Bhola's character is such a shocker that nobody in his senses would pray for a son -- or a neighbour -- like him. But apart from his obsessions, one with jogging for weight loss and the other with sex, he comes across as a sensitive guy with a deep understanding of the finer things in life. He goes through a disastrous marriage but, when his wife practises music, he thinks, "What kind of song do you sing in the mornings, Kamala, and why a different type in the evenings? Where do they connect -- the brash rock that I've enjoyed for decades and your heavenly melody? Is a khayal a thought and a thumri a lilt? And an alaap an appetizer or the precursor to the mood? Is it too late for me to sing with you?" Exquisitely phrased thought, which makes one wonder what Bhola might have been if he had been able to tame his sexual impulses.

Till the last day of his life, he believes that he has been a non-achiever with nothing to talk about except a series of misadventures. Yet, he is miserably human in his inability to conquer his foibles. Somewhere, he knows he is just drifting through the ocean of life. But he seems to have reconciled to the fact that he will never change. Or rather, he never ever can. He is crippled by subversive flaws that eclipse whatever good qualities he has.

While experiencing the last moments of his life, he contemplates, "Do people really weep for God as they do for their wife and children? Now, who had asked that? Sri Ramakrishna? And why on earth should they?" Once again, the thought shows that he possesses a reflective mind. But what that does not mean is that the reader will be charmed by the character. So hopelessly enslaved to his weaknesses is he that one can, at best, pity him. And one would, despite knowing that deviants like him can defile an already corrupt society even further. This is where Chatterjee's triumph lies. The theme is complex and, therefore, the protagonist. At no point in time do we relate to Bhola. But we do realise what makes him flawed, and why he should not exist.

(The copyright of this article rests with The Maharashtra Herald )