‘Kattuvalli’ (meaning, forest creeper) is a peaceful village in south Kerala and its people are simple, friendly, helpful and ever willing to share their joy as well as sorrow. The serenity of the village is violently disturbed by a series of catastrophic events. The novel under review, whose storyline has Kerala-Soviet Union link as a sub-stratum, attempts to weave the happenings into a mosaic, portraying the intensity of the trauma through the protagonist, Swati.
Tragedy strikes Swati and her family repeatedly. Her parents, uncle, and brother get killed, as they fall a victim to mindless Naxalist violence. In Moscow, her lover Misha disappears mysteriously during the pre-Perestroika era. What heightens the tragedy is the fact that the head of her family, Ramachandra Shastri, is a paragon of virtue. But Swati is not the one to give up easily and collapse when faced with a challenge. A woman of courage, she remains undaunted and weathers the storm of adversities, shouldering added responsibilities.
There are myriad characters in the novel, not to speak of elaborate descriptions of lineage and traditions. Among them is Janardhan, who plays a significant role in the Naxalite massacre, is a close friend of Ramachandra Sastri’s family. He is described as “true copy” of Anjaneya, Shastri’s father. The entire family gets eliminated, the only one to survive being Manda (kini). She marries her uncle and gives birth to a girl, Pavani, who is mentally retarded.
When the carnage takes place in the village, Swati is studying in Russia where she has a lover, Misha, who disappears on returning home from a holiday to St. Petersburg. She returns to Kattuvalli, sinceher sister Manda is on the deathbed, and takes up a job in Lakshadweep, as also the responsibility of taking care of the mentally challenged Pavani and her child — which she gave birth to after the rape incident — and whom Swati named ‘Misha’, after her lover.
The period novel is about the trauma caused at the personal and community levels by mindless violence in the name of ideology. Except in parts, it does not adequately sensitise the reader. The narration is not engaging enough for the dramatic turns in the story to make an impression. While several of the important characters do not get necessary focus, the presence of numerous peripheral ones and the sort of play they are given go to dilute the main plot, besides distracting attention. Where the trip to St. Petersburg is detailed, it reads like a tourist guide. The famous Malayalam poet, Changampuzha, is erroneously mentioned as ‘Changabusha’. Overall, if the intention of Sujata Sankranti is to project the ‘failure’ of the Communist ideology to “usher in a new Heaven and a new earth” (p. 133), one should say her novel is hardly convincing.
IN THE SHADOW OF LEGENDS: Sujata Sankranti; Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd, 7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Price: Rs.195.
