THE DEATH OF MR LOVE, INDRA SINHA
Scribner, Rs 465 Pages 584

NONITA KALRA, THE INDIAN EXPRESS

It was the original crime of passion. A high- ranking Naval official. His beautiful foreign wife. An Indian Casanova. A love triangle. A shooting. And a trial that subverted the system of justice forever. The Nanavati murder caught the nation’s fancy in the 1950s and to date people in Bombay talk about. Attempting to write about it is a daunting task because it’s a tale everyone has a version of. Ad guru/celebrated copywriter Indra Sinha takes on the task -- in a twisted way – and the result is the most intriguing retelling thus far.

The Death Of Mr Love is about "another monstrous crime, which remains undiscovered, its perpetrator unpunished". In this case the criminal is not the notorious playboy Prem (he was fond of whispering into women’s ears that his name, in Hindi, meant "love") Ahuja. It’s about a web Sybil -- a lonely Englishwoman who is married to the bigoted Raj-supporter James Killigrew -- gets trapped in, due to her passion for the Sindhi rake. And soon everyone in her life is entangled in a bizarre situation that threatens his or her very existence. It forces her best friend Maya to leave the country and settle abroad, isolated from all that she lived for. A storyteller by nature, now the only story she repeats is, “There is no past because all its effects are with us now.” There is her son Bhalu, a bookseller who is happiest when life leaves him alone. There is Sybil’s daughter Phoebe (“Fever” as she is called by the children in the Ambona Hills) who is a compulsive liar, hiding from the truth she thinks is her heritage. There are several other supporting characters -- Jula (Mitra), Dost – all adding a rich and varied dimension to the novel. It’s as if the entire ensemble come together to form a complex network – that supports the story as well as allow it to move and breathe freely.

Sinha goes back and forth. From the 1950s to the 1990s – with consummate ease. One moment you are in England, the other in Ambona and suddenly in Bombay – in Dongri Bazaar. And that is the brilliance of this novel: The eloquence. A powerful story. Vital cities. And well-etched characters. Sinha could be Bhalu. And then again Sinha could be Maya. Sinha could even be Jula. You forget that a writer is telling a story. You forget that there is even a writer between you and the novel. There is just a sad, poignant tale. The story of The Death Of Mr Love.

It is also a book that does justice to Bombay. It is curious that literature does not celebrate the city enough – Sinha’s novel is a gratifying step in that direction. He talks about the comedian Johnny Walker, the Hindi movies, The Blitz, ghazals and the BEST routes 132 and 123. Ask any Bombaywallah (we still do not use the term Mumbaikars) and we will tell you about the bus routes almost in song – matching Sinha’s description.

The back cover states that the book is: “A tale of stories that ‘begin with their beginnings, and continue beyond their ends’.” True. The book also will stay with you for a long time. It is one of the most exciting releases of this year. Sinha writes beautifully. There is no attempt to impress with big words. Or long sentences. It is erudite. Refers to Urdu literature. Talks about Sadat Hasaan Manto. With ease. Because the writer has lived this life. And he shares it with his reader unstintingly. Elegantly.

Know Your Author: Indra Sinha was born in India of an Indian father, a Naval architect, and an English mother, a writer. He was educated at Mayo College, Rajasthan and at Pembroke College, Cambridge. His work as an advertising copywriter won him awards in every major advertising show, and also allowed him to start a free medical clinic in Bhopal. In 1980 he published a new translation of Kama Sutra, the first new English translation to be published in the West since Richard Burton's in 1888. The author of The Cybergypsies: A True Tale of Lust, War, & Betrayal on the Electronic Frontier – he became addicted to the internet in 1984 when he was asked to create ads for a modem manufacturer. He has now left advertising to write full time.