Kiran Nagarkar has the touch of genius. In my opinion, he is amongst the best Indian writers of English fiction of our times, but has not yet been given the recognition he deserves. Also, he has the grit to write against evil-doers and face the consequences with courage. He is a Mumbaikar who started off writing in Marathi. His first novel in English was Ravana & Eddy. It lambasted the Shiv Sena using the best technique to puncture self-inflated balloons: he made fun of them. Some passages like the elaborate rituals practised by them to tie langotis before going on parades, or beating up non-Maharashtrians and Muslims makes hilarious reading. They never forgave him; he is still on their hit list. If the novel had been more appropriately entitled, it would have made the top of the best-sellers? lists for many months.

His second novel was Cuckold. It is a fictional account of Mira Bai and her times in Rajasthan. While Babar?s armies are marching towards Delhi, Rajput princes are busy with palace intrigues and fornication. The moral is clear. As a nation, we suffer from a hereditary inability to come together as one nation to face foreigners who invaded our country to kill and loot. I rate Cuckold amongst the most eminently readable novels in India.

Nagarkar?s third novel, God?s Little Soldier, was released recently by one of his admirers, the actor Aamir Khan at a function in Delhi. Aamir Khan read out passages from the novel. The theme is entirely different from that of his earlier fiction. It is largely about religious bigotry versus liberalism. The story is about an affluent Muslim family of Bombay, the Khans, who made their fortune as architects and builders. They live in a mansion ?Firdaus?, by the sea.

The father is a laid-back character, good at his profession and a soft-spoken gentleman. The mother lives a social life playing Bridge at the Willingdon Club, dancing and flirting. They have two sons, Amanat and Zia. Amanat is sickly and often laid up in bed. The younger, Zia, is a healthy handsome boy, good at everything he does and a mathematical genius. He is under the influence of a maiden aunt who is a devout Muslim in love with the actor Dilip Kumar. She makes Zia into a fanatic. A family friend, an English Roman Catholic professor of Divinity, visits them regularly every year. One time, when Zia as a baby was taken very ill and all hopes of his surviving given up, she took him secretly to a Catholic church and had him baptized. The boy recovered.

The family was betrayed by a relation when an overbridge designed and constructed by it collapsed, killing some workers. Khan?s father was sentenced to imprisonment, his licence cancelled, a heavy fine imposed on him and his mansion impounded. The family moved into a squalid multi-storeyed building Suleiman Mansions in Bhendi Bazaar, where lived Muslim families of different denominations: khojas, Bohras, Ahmedias ? not on talking terms with each other. The father took the downfall in his stride, the mother was often missing from home. The Catholic lady professor came to their help. She had Zia admitted to a new school, the most elite and expensive in India to pursue his studies. Zia remained a topper as well as a devout Muslim, saying his five daily prayers and flagellating himself on Muharram.

Despite devotion to his faith he impregnated an American girl student who had to return home to get an abortion. Nevertheless, Zia made it to Cambridge University and often stayed in the home of his lady patron and became her daughter Vivian?s lover. His fanaticism increased to insane levels. His sole ambition in life was to kill Salman Rushdie because he had belittled Allah and his Prophet.

Vivian, who had taken to wearing a burqa for a while, supported him in his misadventure. He tried to kill Rushdie at a literary seminar, only to find that his revolver had all bullets in its chamber secretly removed. He fled England and returned to Suleiman Mansions. His insanity increased. His brother had become a Kabir bhakt and written a book on the saint. Zia almost succeeded in murdering him.

The scene suddenly shifts to a Trapist monastery in Italy: Zia, the Muslim bigot, becomes a devout Catholic monk. There is more confrontation between bigots and the liberal-minded. I am half way through the novel and expect the conflict to be drawn to a conclusion. I have enjoyed reading every page and am impressed by Nagarkar?s knowledge of Muslim rituals, monastic discipline, life in Cambridge University (he never studied there) and insight into the minds of people who get so poisoned by self-righteousness that they are willing to kill those who don?t share their faith. The story is improbable, scenes shift too suddenly but manages to hold the readers? interest because it is well-worded and packed with information. God?s Little Soldier makes great reading.

The curse of Naxalism

Naxalism is rotten
It exploits innocence, breeds violence
It?s out to kill, barbaric, uncivil
It?s against democracy, enemy of decency
It?s causing dislocation, disturbing the nation
Which we are building so rapidly, so surely
And when all that remains to be done
Is to ban distress sale of children,
Blackout news about starvation,
Declare farmers? suicide
unconstitutional and outlaw mental agitation.
The Naxalites are rotten, they don?t understand
That we have already banned
The news about Adivasis? exploitation,
The news about the bashing up of
their men, rape of women,
Malnutrition, disease and destitution,
They don?t understand that our
foreign reserves are at all high time
And our Sensex is touching the sky,
They don?t understand our
Bollywood?s charm
The unpatriotic lot, always harping on land reforms
They are a slur on the country
And must be dealt with severely
Because we are entirely guilt-free.

(Courtesy Kuldip Salil, Delhi)