'The God of Small Things' lives on

That Roy carves a fascinating story line isn’t so wondrous a reason for her writing, however, the way she makes an extraordinary work from an ordinary twist of fate very much is. GOST has a delicate balance - a co-ordination of the mind-body process, intellect and perception. This is not all. Death, more than anything else, is nothing short of a wobbling, terrestrial phrase in Roy’s rationale too. It is something like the little stream of existence that grows broader and broader with every generation. After Ammu, it is Rahel and Estha.

GOST has haunting melodies, the smell of pickles, squashes, jams, and recipes, that could stir your taste buds. At the same time, it presents a macabre sense of unwanted “fun”: the devastating homosexual tryst Estha is subject to, in the cinema hall corridor, for one.

It also goes without saying that Roy’s “invective” is an allusion to popular culture. Call it “high” literature, which makes a mockery of human senses, and sensibilities. Go figure with the level-crossing lunatic Muralidharan’s “penile-directional-strength,” and you’d know. The “twist” is bemoaning. It’s nothing short of “spiritual” pollution - yet, it is typically a novelist’s perquisite that works with objective magnetism.

Roy seems to be a quite well read woman, not an uncoached, untutored architect, with a feel for words, as she herself wants us to believe. She’d not have conceived of GOST without a literary frame of mind - whatever it means. If she is not well read, as she claims, she's truly a genius.

GOST was to Roy what the willow was to Brian Lara. Ask her. But, don’t be surprised. You won’t get a fulsome answer.

Yes, Roy deserves all her accolades. She’s got everything going for her - and, why not? You need a bit of everything to succeed. Better still, her work not only gave the art of Indian writing in English a new lease of life, it also gave new Indian writers in English a new-found status, especially in terms of earnings.

Ten years on, GOST continues to be an astounding novel, a riveting work of human revelation and (un)certainty no less.

Just grab a copy of the book, if you haven’t yet. It’s sure worth its weight in gold.