Vikas Swarup Q and A Book Review

Vikas Swarup Q and A Book Review

Q and A

By Vikas Swarup
Doubleday $32.95

A leading light in India's foreign affairs bureaucracy, Vikas Swarup penned his first novel in just two months and for a welcome change has given us an Indian novel of a digestible size, rather than the doorstops we have come to expect from Messrs Seth, Mistry et al.

In a roller-coaster ride through his unusual life, Ram Mohammad Thomas - an orphan given Hindu, Muslim and Christian names because of his unknown parents - tells how a poor café waiter from Bombay wins a fortune on a television quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion? ('W3B').

When we meet him, Ram is under arrest following a complaint lodged by the show's producers who insist the humble teenager could never have answered the 11 lead-up questions, let alone bagged the main prize by naming the key in which Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29, Opus 106 - also known as the 'Hammerklavier Sonata' - is played.

Hoping that Ram had indeed cheated, and thus would have to forfeit his winnings, they engage the services of the police, even the top cop himself, in an attempt to gain a favourable outcome.

'It's the timing, Commissioner. Shows like W3B cannot be dictated by chance, by a roll of the dice. They have to follow a script. And according to our script, a winner was not due for at least eight months, by which time we would have recouped most of our investment through ad revenues.'

After brutalising Ram the police turn him over to a human rights lawyer, Smita Shah, who takes him to her flat, feeds him and then begins probing for an explanation, helped by a DVD of the 'W3B' episode in which Ram made his fortune.

For 1000 rupees, name the blockbusting film in which famous actor Armaan Ali starred with Priya Kapoor? For 200,000, who invented the revolver? What letters were inscribed on Jesus's cross? What does persona non grata mean?

Incredibly yet plausibly, Ram knows the answers because of his life experiences, the last coming through employment at the home of the Australian Military Attache that concluded with the arrest and expulsion of his boss, Colonel Taylor, on espionage charges.

Remarking on the affair, the Australian High Commissioner remarks, 'I must say this is the first time in my long career that any of my officers has been PNG'd.'

'Wasn't I lucky that they only asked those questions to which I knew the answers?' Ram tells Smita.

Insightful about India and frequently hilarious, this is a remarkable debut novel.

via : echo news