Karna Redux

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Shining Hero
By Sara Banerji
HarperCollins
Rs 395

There is no twist in this tale. It is a retelling of the Karna-Arjuna rivalry, played out in modern times, reworked in parts. So, Koonti before becoming the wife of the young zamindar of Hatibari, an estate near Calcutta, is seduced by a famous actor who plays the role of the Sun God in a reel life take on the Mahabharata. When the child, Karna, is born of this union, he is abandoned by his mother, carried away on a river. A chain and a coin engraved with the words 8220;Koonti Pandava of the Hatibari of Hatipur8221; are the only claims to his birth.

The rest is a lost and found tale though the copybook Karna8217;s fate looks even more dismal than his original one8217;s. With even his foster mother dead, it8217;s the road and its accompanying dangers that are Karna8217;s fate while brother Arjun indulges in whatever it is that zamindar boys do to whiz through a happy childhood.

Karna, in the meantime, has been kidnapped by a goonda, learnt to be a skillful drug peddler and has lost the last of his tattered bits of childhood after being sodomised by two misshapen goons and two equally abhorrent cops.

The short-lived respite comes when Koonti8217;s social worker sister Shivarani accepts Karna as part of the Hatibari family. The two brothers unite with little love and enough sentiment of one-upmanship to carry this book forward. Shivarani8217;s story of a ceaseless though often tired do-gooder and women rights champion who eventually finds love, is a parallel one that runs through the novel and has its heartwarming moments.

But it is the Karna-Arjuna story that is the dominant thread. After fighting their petty battles in Hatibari, they shift their karmabhoomi, first to Bollywood and later to the political arena 8212; a must stopover for all modern-day royals and zamindars. Death for Karna comes in a fast-paced car race with Arjuna. The treachery: Arjuna tampers with Karna8217;s tyre, with the intention to stall him not kill him though.

There seems no particular reason for anyone to write this book since its theme is already familiar to readers, at least to the Indians among them. Unlike other reinterpretations of the Mahabharata, which either concentrate on a single episode or use it to examine a certain issue such as gender rel-

ations, for instance, Shining Hero does not do that either.

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But for all that, Shining Hero is a well-written book. While you are reading it, you want to read on despite knowing that there are no surprises waiting for you.

The novel ends with Arjuna winning the elections and following it up with getting engaged to the object of Karna8217;s desire. To his street friends and a scar faced prostitute, Karna with his large heart, was a shining hero. But in practical terms it is Arjuna with his loot of wins who emerges a shining hero.

This is certainly not a feel-good novel. It tells us what we have suspected all along. Money, looks and the right pedigree are such a delectable package that even luck finds it hard to resist the attraction.