Admirers of films like The Big Lebowski , Pineapple Express and the Harold and Kumar series will expect a lot from Jugal Mody’s Toke . The book, published by Harper Collins, was released at Turquoise Cottage in the Capital recently.
Inspired by Hollywood stoner comedies, the book has been billed as India’s first stoner novel. In conversation with Anuja Chauhan, screenwriter and author of The Zoya Factor and Battle for Bittora , at the launch, Jugal shed light on the name of the book. “If you’re smoking cigarettes, it’s called smoking; if you’re smoking pot, it’s called toking.”
In keeping with the traits of the genre, the book consists of a drug-fuelled adventure, Jugal explained. The novel is narrated by Nikhil, a straight-edged and dutiful IT professional who gets fired for sleeping on the job one day. Following this, he gives up sobriety and is unwillingly conscripted into saving the world, along with his two stoner friends Danny and Aman. They are joined in their quest by “two Japanese girls who can kill people with their pinkies”. There are Indian pop mythology influences as well. Lord Vishnu appears in the novel and tells the protagonists he is tired of saving the world, and hands over his job to them. Interestingly, he is visible to the characters only when they are under the influence. Asked why he chose to cast Vishnu, when it is Lord Shiva who is traditionally associated with marijuana, Jugal explained the ‘saving the world’ narrative would have been incompatible with Shiva, who is the destroyer.
The world has to be saved from a zombie invasion. But in the stoned universe of Toke , it is the sober populace which makes up the numbers for the aforementioned invasion. Anuja noted the construction of an interesting moral order, but Jugal laughed off the attempt at reading any deeper meaning into it.
Asked about the parallels between his life and Nikhil’s, Jugal, formerly the web editor of Tehelka and Filmfare , said he had been lucky to have good bosses throughout his career. “I wish it was from my life,” he added. Describing his approach as “social research”, Jugal said the book draws from experiences related by friends in a circle while toking at various gatherings.
Finally, in an indirect response to a question about whether the book should be read in a sober or altered state, Jugal said the best compliment he had received was from a friend who started the book sober but was compelled to toke by the time he finished.
