Fiction reflecting real events adequately laced with imagination endears readers as it becomes easily relatable. Adhering to this Deb Sanjoy Dutta for his maiden novel, “The Slashed Canvas” has taken inspiration from his own life. So we have the main protagonist, Siddhartha or Bublu (pet name) in the Partridge publication resembling the author in more than one ways as evident on perusing Dutta’s profile –– schooling in military school and National Defence Academy, studying commerce and mining engineering and passion for art. “Siddhartha’s character was conceived through objective observation of self and thus echoes a lot of my traits. I also exploited the character to voice my concerns and convey my realisations in life. I am not Siddhartha but he is conglomeration of part me, partially my belief system and in part some inspiring characters,” he explains.
Spread over Siddhartha’s childhood, youth and middle age, the story through him and other connected characters describes his fascinating journey on paths not treaded with the larger purpose of searching meaning of life. A fairly large chunk of the novel is set in Kolkata and Delhi with many incidents placed in Dehradun, Pune, Noida, Gurgaon and Jambad mining area. Moving from one livelihood to another, one relationship to another he looks for something beyond. Dutta points out that the novel’s title is a metaphor for Siddhartha’s life and his quest for the meaning of life. Besides Siddhartha, an array of characters bring to fore a gamut of emotions. Dutta’s narrative set around historical events in India before and after Independence portrays vividly the changing times, helping the reader to visualise it. On using the concept of time repeatedly as a strong underlying character, he comments: “It was important to present these events to substantiate the power of this fourth dimension – time on life.”
Using time, the author highlights corruption in the society and its rapid proliferation in all spheres of life. “We have allowed it to grow so humongous that it has engulfed our complete existence. No more limited to certain field, profession or people it is ubiquitous. Corruption is no more about money only. It is all encompassing and in every facet of our society.”
The tale presents several instances of monetary and sexual exploitation of an individual’s circumstances, misery, poverty and hardship.
What stands out in Dutta’s maiden effort is though reflecting many serious social and psychological issues, he never lets the story becoming boring or staid.
