Book Review : Ghachar Ghochar

Book Name: Ghachar Ghochar
Author: Vikas Shanbhag

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Format: Paperback

Print length: 124 pages 

Rating: 5/5

Ghachar Ghochar by Vikas Shanbhag is a short contemporary fiction novella that brings forth the harsh reality of the society and human mindset. 

Blurb on Amazon

'It's true what they say - it's not we who control money, it's the money that controls us. When there's only a little, it behaves meekly; when it grows, it becomes brash and has its way with us.'

From a cramped, ant-infested house to a spacious bungalow, a family finds itself making a transition in many ways. The narrator, a sensitive young man, is numbed by the swirl around him. All he can do is flee every day to an old-world cafe, where he seeks solace from an oracular waiter. As members of the family realign their equations and desires, new strands are knotted, others come apart, and conflict brews dangerously in the background.

Masterfully translated from the Kannada by Srinath Perur, Ghachar Ghochar is a suspenseful, playful and ultimately menacing story about the shifting consequences of success.

Review

It is an influential novella that delves into the complexities of family dynamics and blazes set after sudden wealth. The story portrays a middle-class household with six people whose status changed from modest to wealthy, leading to their blindfolded in spending money. The story's narrator is one of the family members who often appears as a silent observer when the house's women undergo arguments, confused about whose side to take.

The author's writing style is simple yet thought-provoking, letting readers immerse in the depth of the narrative and understand the graveness of the story that the author puts forth, reflecting the harsh reality of society and human tendency. The characters are minimal and relatable. The narrator is a man in the family who knows things are wrong but cannot speak against them. Malati, the narrator's sister who does not care about anyone's feelings and knows how to fulfill her wish, portrays a spoilt kid of an affluent family and Chikkappa, an ardent and devoted household earner.

Most readers would picture themselves in the story, noticing how they, too, lost connection with family, either by going away from home for higher studies or jobs or living together with less or no time to have a conversation as in the older times. Eventually, it depicts loneliness or loss of identity living around people. Some readers might find it a disturbing exploration of human conditioning yet wonder about this book long after finishing the last page as the author leaves it open-ended, allowing readers to have their perspective on the harsh realities and unfolding of the truths about society.

It is a thought-provoking and rewarding read that would remain with the readers long after finishing it, allowing readers to build their viewpoints based on the understanding of the depth that the author expresses with elements like ants and a woman who was mistreated for no reason.

Buy it from Amazon - Ghachar Ghochar

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