Adventure 7: Selection Day, Aravind Adiga
Visiting bookstores in India made me realize how deprived I was of Indian authors’ publications. Wandering around bookstores in Chennai introduced me to the world of Indian writing I was starved off for a good year. The next few books involves my experience in reading some of these works. The first among them is Aravind Adiga’s Selection Day. ‘The White Tiger’ made me sit up for its astonishingly detailed portrayal of the India we know, of the India we think we know, and of the India that really is. Selection day goes a step further, and makes you look at a perspective which has often been convincingly hidden under the many folds of the multi-coloured fabric that is India.
Selection Day, like most things Indian, revolves around the sport of Cricket. The protagonists are Manjunath Kumar, and his elder brother, Radha Kumar, sons of a local chutney seller, being brought up to be the world’s second-best and the best batsmen respectively. Every cricketer’s dream begins with the passion to play for their state team, which, in this case, is Mumbai. On the field, Radha and Manju have to face tough competition from Javed Ansari, a rich kid with looks, intellect and poetry writing skills. The rest of the story revolves around the build up to the selection day, and the few and far that happens between their lives in between.
Having said that, Selection Day is a lot of other things too. There is the relationship between the kids’ father, Mohan, and their sons. There is the tale of sibling rivalry, brotherly love and sacrifice, coming to the fore when younger Manju’s skills surpass elder Radha’s on the cricket field. There is the relationship between Javed Ansari and Manjunath, and the tussle between Javed and Mohan to ‘own’ Manju’s future. In the midst of all this, there are the coaches, agents, and the cast of cricket selection’s grand old machinery plying away, trying their hardest to stamp their influence on the game, for their 2 minutes of recognition.
In this story, Aravind Adiga displays his knack of weaving multiple plots skilfully to no seeming end, and then pulling the rug from under your feet to leave you astonished, yet again. If you race to the end like a tracer bullet (What cricket story is complete without Ravi Shastri!) you are equally contemplating the end in quiet disbelief, after you are done (Well played, Adiga). What is also noteworthy, is his vivid portrayal of the city of Mumbai. He successfuly brings to life the contrasting images of the city’s hallowed cricket grounds, a short distance away from the squalor and sadness of its slums. His attention to detail in this depiction aides the narrative beautifully, and helps in painting the big picture. The relationships between father, son, brother and friend, take center-stage though. Adiga effortlessly explores the world of parental abuse and alternate sexuality, and adds perspectives and detail based on his own style of creative logic. The characters all have a simple logic for their actions, and yet the outcome of their actions is astonishing. Through subtle changes to their lives and seemingly unimportant decisions, Adiga weaves a web of outward placidness and serenity to the inner turmoil that happens within you as you see the story unfold. The ending, as usual, is bold, striking, and surprisingly well disguised.
The book does assume that the reader knows his cricket well enough. So fair warning, if you don’t know cricket, it would help if you Wiki Mumbai cricket and Ranji Trophy before reading this book. Sometimes, the book does take a philosophical narrative to try to explain things, but I found this very interesting. Others might not. Being an ardent Ranji Trophy and cricket fan added an extra layer of interest and spice for me, which I recognize might be absent for other readers.
Overall, this book is a subtle drama about cricket, family, and friends, with a vivid portrayal of life in one of India’s most famous cities. If you want a novel with a googly every few pages, and a tense chase to the finish aced by some glorious passages of prose right from the sweet spot, this book is for you. A bonus, if you are a cricket fan, an extra bonus if you are from India’s metros, and a must-read if you enjoy Ranji Trophy too.
P.S. Maybe Aravind Adiga should consider writing a movie script sometime too. God knows, we could do with a few good stories.
