Who says that Indian English literature does not offer diversity? Who says that Indian English literature has gone mundane? Who believes that emerging, rising and struggling authors cannot produce something out of the box or extraordinary? Well, I am one of them as well and I do believe what are the reasons behind such sweeping remarks. However, as my friend Rupesh would agree, no sample size can be perfect if we are discussing anything Indian… and readers or audience of any kind can never be summarised in small sample sizes! Why am I suddenly changing the line of my thoughts? Well, I have recently read the very debut novel by Sudipta Roy, an emerging novelist, A Dumb’s Story, and the novel has a rather tailing subtitle, A silent rattle that rips the rug of raunchy!
Sudipta’s class is different… of course, being a senior and experienced person gives you an edge over those who are yet to see different perspectives of life. However, as we all understand, art and an artist are beyond the numbers that we define as age and time. Sudipta Roy’s mastery over human emotions reflects in his debut novel when he describes the character of the protagonist, Nairit. Nairit doesn’t want to lie to his mother but he has to. He regrets doing so, but he has to! Nairit’s character has been decorated with various facets of human emotions, thoughts and other abstract elements. However, at the same time, the natural human weakness has been kept intact and you will understand it better once you read the novel.
For any author, the art of storytelling is also very important. After reading A Dumb’s Story, I can say it firmly that Sudipta does have better storytelling skills compared to many others I have read. However, he might have overdone his art a little and that’s why young or rather new readers might face a little difficulty in getting a hold of the storyline because it mixes the author’s point of view (or the unknown but universal narrator) and the protagonist’s point of view. Nevertheless, in both versions, the author has tried to offer his best and he has succeeded as well.
Coming to language and lexicon, the author has kept it simple and tried to cover a wide readership. A Dumb’s Story can be anyone’s single day read because it does not require much effort to grasp what’s happening in the life of a person who was successful and cancer made him fall before he could rise again. And it does feel good seeing an author who has gone into a different lane altogether with his story and motif but kept it open for readers from across the linguistic prowess.
The author has also used very rich symbolism in his very first attempt and it does give hope to critical readers like me and many others I know. Will we get to read more from the author? We have to find it out in the near future but at present, I would surely suggest everyone read the book Sudipta not because the book is good but also because the author has tried to do something more than merely wonderful! Welcome to the league of Indian Authors who are more than serious about their writing! Great to see and share.
Written by Agraj M for Intellectual Reader (literary blog)