Book name- WATER DAYS: A NOVEL
Author- Sundar Sarukkai
Published by- Tranquebar, Price- Rs 499
One seldom comes across books that intrigue you because of the praise received by the writer’s previous work. Water Days by Sundar Sarukkai is one such literary work. I had somehow missed out on Sarukkai’s last book that had generated quite a bit of interest.
Here, the plot is set in the Mathikere extension of Bangalore during the 1990s where Raghavendra, who used to be a security guard, somehow finds himself in a situation where he has to take on the role of an investigator. Raghavendra lives with his wife, Poornima, and their two children. The family experiences the socio-economic changes that came along in that specific decade that saw people from different regions of the country migrate to the city. This leads to their neighbourhood becoming a proverbial melting pot of culture wherein people speaking different languages stay together, trying to survive and find their own place in a fast-changing world. But everything comes to a jolting halt as a 16-year-old is found dead and Poornima pushes her husband to find the killer. In the following days, Raghavendra starts to dig deep into what might end up revealing the beginning of a new reality devoid of innocence.
Sarukkai has presented his experiences living in Bangalore in a way that lends authenticity to the plot. The mention of water in the title as well as on the cover represents a deeper connection to how people with limited access to a basic amenity such as water rejoice once they get hold of it; this is still a daily struggle for many all around the country. The ghettoised locality portrayed in the book also offers a stark picture of the differences in the amenities made available to the working class and those who are better off. This, along with several other elements, offers glimpses of a polarised reality; Sarukkai’s narrative oscillates between these poles of differentiation.
The time frame around which the story is set is also important as it coincides with the liberalisation of India’s economy that led to Bangalore’s rapid development and it becoming an IT hub. The abundance of opportunities attracted many people from different cultures towards the city and this fusion plays an important part in the story becoming a whole. As Raghavendra unveils the mystery behind the murder of a carpenter’s daughter in just 13 days, it shifts something in the fabric of the city which was supposed to be a microcosm of the country itself. The author has treated the city almost as a living entity with its own character, which is neither white nor black but various shades of grey. The story leaves the reader wondering about these specific grey areas.