Sharp, unapologetic and cynical...these are some of the words that describe Sudeep Chakravarti's writing. After the much acclaimed “Tin Fish”, Chakravarti is back with its stirring sequel, “The Avenue of Kings” where the journalist turned-writer uncovers some dark chapters of recent history through three novellas.
“Much of our English writing has focused on colonial history...the exotica of a white man romancing a brown lady under the Jacaranda tree. I wanted to tell the story of real India. The change and churning we have faced in the last three decades. Brandy Ray (the central character of “Tin Fish”) is now a graduate, trying to find his bearing,” says Chakravarti sipping Jasmine tea at Jasmine, the Chinese restaurant of Ramada Plaza.
So, if Brandy Ray had a brush with Emergency in “Tin Fish”, here Chakravarti puts him in tumultuous times. The first one brings him face to face with the sordid reality of Indian secularism when a young sardar is burnt in front of his eyes in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination. Chakravarti points out how nobody took out the wrath on the Hindus when Mahatma Gandhi was killed. “You don't kill your own kind.” The second novella captures the quick demise of the dream called Rajiv Gandhi and in the third, set against Babri Masjid demolition, he strives to find a ray of hope in the darkest hour of Indian polity.
Having spent more than two decades in Delhi, first as a student in St. Stephen's and then as a journalist, Chakravarti is proud that he could speak Hindi without a Bengali accent. Chakravarti draws from his experiences and sound memory to shape Brandy's journey. Trying steamed chicken dumplings, Chakravarti relates portions of his research. “I revisited most of the places I have written about to get the flavour...the bun omlette and parathas in Old Delhi still smell the same... Having a good memory is very humbling. It keeps you rooted. You exactly know what went right or wrong.”
The days of yore
For instance, he still remembers the bus route numbers — 210, 240 — that he used to take with his friends from Delhi University to reach Taj Mahal Hotel on Mansingh Road to have a bite at Machan. “In those days the restaurant used to have buffet at much subsidized rates between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. Perhaps the idea was that the food should not go waste. It used to cost Rs.21 per person. Once in a while we used to try it. After having a sumptuous food we had to sit in the lobby in an attentive position till 5, the time when the bus service started.”
After spending so many years in journalism in different positions Chakravarti suddenly took a break and shifted to Goa. “It was supposed to be a sabbatical but I started enjoying it so much that I decided to stay put. My boss thought that I am going to join a rival organisation but when I sent my contact details in Goa, she was surprised.” If writing novels became an “extended cover story” with no editorial policy to fear, he started surprising himself and his kid by joining karate classes at 45. Not only that, he is a trained scuba diver and works part time as a life guard.
It also gave him time to hone his cooking skills. “It is not something that obstructs my writing. In fact it is a relaxing therapy for me. I can easily switch from cooking to writing and back.” In love with the oriental cuisine, Chakravarti find himelf adept at Thai. And the Delhi connection makes its presence felt here as well. “Despite being a Bengali, I find myself closer to dal tadka.”
With the media in a flux after the Radia tapes, in his next outing Brandy Ray might venture into the world of news. “Following media ethics and a commercially viable media business are not contradiction in terms and the cleansing will happen soon,” he signs off by cracking his fortune cookie.
