Cloned, As Che

Nature8217;s beauty puts to shame human excesses in a novel about Naxalism

IN THE BACKWATERS OF KERALA, a young student gets involved in the Naxal movement. His friend, a lookalike, but in-nocent of politics, gets picked up by the po-lice and is killed in custody. Years later, justice is done. A common enough tale for the dark days of Emergency. But the fast-paced narra-tion, lucidity and intensely descriptive pas-sages makes C.P. Surendran8217;s debut novel a story well-told.

The note from the author explains the ker-nel of the novel8212;a true incident that 8220;in-volves the custodial death of the young engi-neering student, Rajan, in 1976, and the long and lonely one-man war that his father, Echere Warrier, waged against the State to wrest justice of a sort8230;8221;.

It does come as a surprise, therefore, that the entire story unfolds through the eyes of John, the young Che-Guevera-like protagonist, almost the alter ego of Abe, the regular happy-go-lucky guitar-playing vic-tim of the State.

And it is John whose journey is explored in the novel8212;more so than that of Abe8217;s fa-ther, the old and tired Sebastian, shattered by the death of his only son. Ironically, it is Sebastian who comes alive through the pages and not John, who is merely the arche-type of the rootless hero, a revolutionary by default. Even his great romance seems only a half-hearted affair. And his great motive, the murder of his union leader father who was killed because he turned a conformist, taught him nothing. He is the weak charac-ter who has greatness thrust upon him, who even at the last page of a 326-page novel, fails to grow.

Indeed, it is characterisation which is per-haps the weakest point of Surendran. From the sadistic DIG Raman, Maoist second-in-command Nair and the journalist Bhaskar, the novel abounds in cardboard figures. And the Naxal supreme commander, Var-kichayan, is just a dark mass in the depths of shadows. More8217;s the pity, for these are the characters who could have been the focal points of the novel. One wonders if the effect is intended, if the agents of negativity are de-liberately reduced to functional elements, but if so, it betrays a greater naivete.

In the absence of any real characters, it is nature that fills up the void and the backwa-ters of Kerala stand revealed as Surendran8217;s true love. The sensual description is almost poetic in intensity8212;so much so that the in-evitable brutality comes as a horrible sur-prise. Be it the murder of Thampran Kutty or the methodical savagery of the police, the dappled sunlight, lush rains and the rich earth put the human excesses to shame.

It is the tempo of the novel that sees it through. The fast changing scenario from John8217;s hostel to Calicut to Palghat to the depths of Waynad forest and the forced steril-isations in Delhi8217;s Old City, the reader is taken on a roller-coaster ride with the fugitive John, from the very first chapter, after he hears the heavy tread of policemen, 8220;in his sleep8221;. There are even the lighter moments, deft sketches of the socialite, Nafisa Joseph, and the IG, Nambiar, the policeman with the soul of an artiste, that bring the much needed relief. Overall, Iron Harvest makes a good read, and gives one reason enough to look forward to Surendran8217;s second attempt.