Two Epic Novels of Indian Literature

chillibreeze writer — Krish

Two contemporary novels where the (Indian) city of dreams, Mumbai, plays a lead role are Shantaram by Gregory Roberts and Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. The novels highlight two different styles of contemporary writing which differ in the ethos they handle.

Shantaram, an awe inspiring wonder in the present literary circles, is one man's deep dive through the infinite layers of the great city. Although the story is narrated in first person, it could be marked as a fictional marvel. A great maze of events and the apparent impossibility of one man experiencing it all highlight the phenomenal story telling ability of Gregory Roberts. Sacred games, on the other hand, is a novel where the depths of a city slowly boil over and overflow exposing the molten lava constantly brewing inside. It is not the viewpoint of one person, rather a constant, incessant dialogue stirring in everyone's mind. In short, the story that Sacred Games presents is more realistic that the real life experiences that Shantaram has to offer.

Mumbai is the queen of Shantaram's heart, a precious and intimate possession of the author's living self, lending it a very personal touch that doesn't fail to strike a chord with the reader. Sacred Games, by its very title, is not one person's experience and hence lacks the personal touch. Rather it is a beautiful melee, a multi-layered, multi-colored fabric which exposes the city and the myriad ways it affects varying individuals under varying circumstances. Shantaram and Sacred Games are similar in the way stories and characters appear and then disappear and reappear, constantly moving towards the center of the spiral. However, Shantaram differs in the way the humane side gets more attention, the way even mafia lords have more than a few qualities worth admiring. The epic novels are two hemispheres with varying inclinations. Sacred Games is a story that lets the reader conclude. It is a fact with a plain face bereft of brazen opinion. Shantaram is a story that presents its own conclusions. It is the author's way of looking at people, a stranger's way of falling in and out of love with an entity in its various forms.

The language of Shantaram is richer than that of Sacred Games. Although neither of the two books would qualify for a study of literature beyond fiction writing, Shantaram has a poetic elegance to it, which is explained by the author’s mystical romanticism of his relationships, be it with Mumbai or the leading lady or some of his friends. Sacred Games on the other hand has used language as a device to enhance and amplify the reality presented. Vikram Chandra hasn’t shirked away from giving the readers a dose of the Mumbai slang and in fact, went to the extent of providing a glossary explaining most of the slang used in the book.

Both books took lot of time in the coming – the authors have taken their own time to move to the epicenter nurturing every character with care and justifying their presence in the storyline. They are similar in that sense where characters are not mythical in nature but could be easily identified and found amongst the myriad faces that constitute the world that Mumbai is. While Shantaram extensively shows the working of organized crime, Sacred Games presents the intricacies of the policies and in this aspect, these are two books that could complement each other very well to present the full face of a multi cultural, multi ethnic city of amazing vastness.

Shantaram has a slight spiritual touch too. Sacred Games finds sarcasm in that too with couple of its characters. Shantaram is a constant journey towards identifying a purpose and losing the fakeness that creates a haze around our observation.

All in all, these are two epics, rich in narration, connected in plot and intense in emotion and yet, diverse in style. The purpose that pulls out the first line from an author's ink is different for both the books.

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in February, 2010. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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Krish writes for chillibreeze.

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