Vivek Shanbhag’s ಸಕೀನಾಳ ಮುತ್ತು~ Sakina’s Kiss is a short read, much like his other acclaimed novel Ghachar Ghochar. Set in one of India’s leading tech cities, Bengaluru, the novel is in the form of a first person narration by the protagonist Venkat. Like his earlier work, even this novel does not have a solid plot. It starts on a note of suspense. If it was an unknown female visitor who came to see his uncle in Ghachar Ghochar, this novel begins with the arrival of two unexpected guests who come to visit his daughter. It doesn’t take long for him to realize their nexus with the underworld. The reader is tempted to know more. But just then the protagonist takes recourse to his reminiscences. It is here, Shanbhag thrives as a writer. It feels like sneaking into someone’s personal diary. The sequences of nostalgia and reflections are interspersed amidst a plot, which appears promising, but as one flips the pages, there is a foreboding that any expectations on the plot is a lost cause. But a prior reading of Shanbhag tells us that this style is a conscious choice. It appears that there is much intended to be told through the pieces of reminiscences and reflections than through the plot.
The plot is simple. Venkatram and his wife Vijaya are IT professionals working in MNC’s, living a fairly comfortable life in Bengaluru. They have a daughter Rekha, whose upbringing is a major theme in the novel. When two young men come to their place, adamantly wanting to get in touch with her, Venkat is taken aback. He lets them know that she is not in town and reaching her through phone is also not a possibility- because of poor network. The boys look suspicious, and the very idea of two young men -not so casually or professionally- seeking to get in touch with his daughter irritates him. However when they come back the next day with their uncles, who happen to be part of the underworld, Venkat’s world is rattled. He is introduced to a world, he is unfamiliar of, which he has passingly read in newspapers. He and his wife are worried about their daughter, who they fear, has been unknowingly pulled into that world. But when they try to find her, through her guardian in Venkat’s native -where she had supposedly gone- another story unfurls. She is missing. There are hints of her deliberate involvement in some bold journalistic venture for which she is forced to go underground. It turns out that the dull, artificial, and comfortable world Venkat has created for himself and his family, is not really inhabited by his daughter. His foreboding that his daughter has been trapped in the commotion of an another world is dispelled, only to his realization that she has consciously stepped out of the world created by him to enter the real world. This is all that’s there in the plot, with a few more characters.
But as mentioned, the writer seems to be expressing something, not in the plot, but the nostalgic detours and candid opinions of the protagonist. These candid pieces are good enough for a psychologist to formulate his personality sketch. For a conscious reader, its a glimpse into the world of an upper caste, economically stable, middle class, urban ‘man‘; where the protagonist is the unconscious, yet partially aware, bearer of the collective experiences and worldview of a class represented by the intersection of the aforementioned qualifications. While some of them are directly mentioned, some have to be inferred.
But what stands out in this narration, is the world of a man, encompassing a range of insecurities, vulnerabilities, fears and hidden desires. The protagonist is no paragon of ‘hyper-masculinity’; rather, like the protagonist in his other novel Ghachar Ghochar, he is timid, politically ambivalent- yet conservative and entitled. As a result, the protagonist finds himself being constantly attacked by the world around him. The effects of the neo-liberal, capitalist world is more pronounced in the city he inhabits, and the job he is employed in. The market forces have done enough to make his ‘masculine self‘ aware that he is no longer in control. His semi-arranged marriage, partly because of his admitted inability to win over a girl’s heart has not helped either. Nor does Venkat possess a dominant personality, with an ability to confidently hold on to his views and opinions; he is admittedly diffident, secretly reading self-help books. When he finds a copy of a similar book with his wife during their honeymoon, he is elated; not just because his insecurities were not revealed to her in an ugly way, but the very fact that they were revealed, would possibly bring them closer. Disbelief in caste/tradition and being ‘liberal’ is a garb to put on; to reflect upon the gravity of this stance was not worthy of time. Venkat is of the opinion that liberality must be restricted when it comes to political views; while he admits that the views of his wife and daughter are more liberal, the man in him is ready to concede defeat in these matters as he believes they are not practical enough. For Venkat, practical outlook, no matter how problematic, are they way of the world, and his ability set aside ideals and ‘be practical’ makes him feel like the ‘man of the house’.
It is interesting that the contradictions in Venkat’s own behavioral traits create conflict for him. While he is concerned and fairly secure about his image as an ‘well- to- do middle class’ with a 2 BHK in Bengaluru, his class insecurities also come to the fore. He deliberately admits his daughter in one of the city’s elite schools so that she is groomed to not inherit thosee insecurities. He is often tempted to assuage his insecurities through his daughter’s friendships with the richer class. Interestingly, his wife was against their daughter’s admission in an elite school.
Slightly deviating from the novel, it is worthwhile to note that the elite schools in Bengaluru or urban India are no less places of contradictions. The children studying there most often come from the society’s creamy layers. The child’s fellow classmates more or less come the same economic backgrounds; their experiences, ideas are conditioned likewise. The children and their families often live in the city’s affluent quarters, or apartment complexes. School buses are often allocated for entire apartment complexes. The child’s post-school interaction also virtually remain the same. The same bunch of kids they see in the school bus, school and classrooms. The school or the environment surrounding their homes barely offer them a glimpse of poverty. Even if they do, the schools and apartment complexes shield them from pondering about it. Yet, interestingly, the elite schools are spaces where liberal ideas find currency. It is mostly in these schools, where students are encouraged to take up Liberal Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Schools catering to the lower middle class often find themselves prioritizing job guaranteeing streams.
This is clearly reflected in Rekha’s trajectory; for all her liberal tendencies, she does come out as an entitled child; inevitably reflecting the influence of her school. But the wife who was against Rekha joining such a school in the first place, sympathizes – if not with anything else- her liberal views. This is an interesting window – albeit minor- into the lives of urban middle class woman, who though educated and aware of the structural inequality she experiences, can assert herself in the so called ‘modern-urban- society’ only to a limited extent. But a daughter like Rekha, who is able to -owing to her age, schooling and also dependence– challenge every restriction imposed by family and the larger society becomes Vijaya’s alter ego. Rekha’s reactions to the restrictions imposed on her, mirrors how Vijaya as a woman brought up in a ‘modern but traditional‘ society, would ideally want to respond.
Venkat’s maternal uncle Ramana and the journalist in Venkat’s native, Suresh (to an extent), represent his alter egos. But these characters inevitably incite hostile reactions from our protagonist. His mother’s younger brother Ramana, is no active agent in the plot. He recurrently appears in his world of reminiscences. In fact the novel’s title is what inadvertently appeared, when a phrase in his handwritten letter known for its undecipherable script, was read out in front of a crowd. Ramana is presented as a wise and idealistic character who, after his parents death, was initially under the care of Venkat’s father and his younger brother. The latter even conspired to swindle his property. Ramana left the house for his studies, his presence being marked by his mysterious letters and his occasional visits. Even in those occasional visits, he was known for accompanying the village folk to government offices to get their work done. Ramana had a profound understanding of the system– political, social and economic- and the structural inequalities it reproduces. It did not end with understanding; it eventually took course to action as well. He got involved in anti-state activities, for which the police forces were on the look out for him. It is worthwhile to recount a conversation between Ramana and Venkat, where the former after knowing the latter’s future plans dismisses them as ordinary. Venkat expresses his disinterest in politics and Ramana comes up with a powerful response that drawing benefits from a system which is structurally inequal and oppressive is as good as indulging corruption.
Clearly, forces have stripped Venkat’s masculinity; the forces of market, directly or indirectly working with the state. His ‘apolitically political‘ response to it is unconsciously riding on those forces to regain his manhood; being supportive of it and by identifying himself with the overarching reach of the state and market. A clear case of this was how he unknowingly cooperated rather generously with the police forces who came to inquire about Ramana. Also noteworthy is Venkat internally resonating with his colleague’s stance on the issue related to policing woman’s dressing choices. The colleague clearly expressed that the lack of control in his house makes him want to support such a political cause, as it is only there he feels secure. When that debate had already shaken Venkat’s house, he is even seen indulging in a sadistic act of letting the boisterous debate on the news channel go on, despite knowing that it is going to irritate his wife and daughter. Ramana’s masculinity was of a different type; he disagreed to bow down to the forces; forces which would eventually eliminate him. In fact the reader can only wonder whether the altercation with his alter-ego Suresh -the activist/journalist under whose guidance Rekha went underground- came from a paternal concern or his threatened manhood. Venkat’s political ambiguity has made him lonely and less manly. He concedes that marriage has become a task, to be done for the sake of it. During a tense moment, when the husband and wife were frantically in search of their daughter, Vijaya dismisses his advance to hold her hand.
Coming to the worlds we talked about- real, artificial, underworld. etc. What are these ? They are the product of the same system we transact in. Venkat’s outlook is that of ‘self-centered individualism’, where he is happy deriving benefit from the system and turning a blind eye towards the faults and misdoings in the society- a creation of the same system- as though they are totally unrelated to him. But when they reach his doorstep; he has no option. What were trivial information in yesterday’s newspaper, became a horrifying reality when his daughter seemed to be pulled into it.
One is reminded of the fetish Marx talks about in the world of commodities; where commodity exchange in a capitalist world, mask social relations. A sense of individualism rises to the fore; where individuals fail to understand their social relations and operate as free individuals with complete ownership rights over their commodities, free to exchange it with anyone. One is reminded of P. Lankesh’s short story Nanalla~ ನಾನಲ್ಲ (Not me) where a dead body lying on the road evokes a rather cold response from the passers-by.
Now about the system, the forces…. Later. Maybe the readers can dig deeper to understand, what actually controls us.
Anuroop Tantry 