Chetna Keer’s writing is never predictable. It does not flow like a serene river from one point to another; instead, it leaps from crag to crag leading to sudden dips that make the readers hold their breath. It meanders across the plain for a split second, and once again, takes an unexpected turn into the unknown.
The unforgettable Lollita aka
Laasyanga Mansingh makes an appearance once again in Garnets Under My Gulmohar,
the sequel to Giddha on My Gulmohar, published by Readomania. While the latter was more of a satire,
Chetna’s latest offering is more on the lines of a suspense novel even though
its exquisite crimson cover screams of romance.
The Reading Room at
Kussowlie Club is the backdrop for the Strolley Storylovers’ Book Club
consisting of six steady bibliophiles, along with a mysterious seventh member. The
Book Club is suddenly thrown into mayhem as a woman is found dead in a bathtub
and the news channels run amok trying to conjure up the most bizarre reasons
for the death.
Lollita’s palatial ancestral
mansion, Ekaanth, that boasts of a resplendent Gulmohar tree in its courtyard, holds
its own secrets within its depths. The nonagenarian matriarch, Bade Beeji, gets
the family together to narrate her history “from the diary called Life wherein
the binding of buried memories had got unglued.”
What is the curse that nestles within the mansion so aptly named Ekaanth, the curse borne by the daughters of the haveli? Did the wise Gulmohar hide it within its heart?
“A blight returns season after season.
A curse generation after generation.”
What is the mysterious
bespoke legacy that turns into Lollita’s mission, a treasure that she needs to
hunt down by sifting through the past and the present? The saga ends in
true-Christie style at the masquerade where masks slip and the stunning truth
is revealed.
Chetna’s forte lies in her
colourful use of idioms, figures of speech and the variation of the length of her
sentences. She also waxes eloquent about her equally colourful characters like
Bhopa Singh and his black umbrella, Bholi Punjabban, the Grande Dame’s cat, the
Seventh Bibliophile and his Gucci fetish and even inanimate objects like the
haveli’s roshandaan, the Banana Rack and the telescopic table in whose “blemished,
scratched visage she saw etched chapters from the days gone by.”
There is a great deal of craftsmanship
that goes into Chetna’s writing… her need to fashion the most appropriate word
or phrase comes through in her narrative. She also takes care to pepper her
writing with literary allusions to the greats like Sahir Ludhianvi, Kahlil
Gibran, Rumi (the book is replete with his quotes) and Amrita Pritam. Besides being a prolific writer, Chetna also reveals herself as a chronicler bridging
the past and the present, the Partition and the pandemic, blending these references
with the flamboyant modern style that is so uniquely her own. Climate change is
another aspect that she touches upon even as she pinpoints her protagonist as a
climate warrior with a “citizen conscience and climate consciousness”. Above
all, a strong mystical element runs through the fibre of the book, one that reflects
her own persona as deeply spiritual.
Thus, Garnets Under my
Gulmohar comes across as a melange of many diverse elements coming together in
a harmonious blend. This is a book that boasts of many layers hidden under a veneer
of sophistication and modernity.
Buying Links:
https://www.amazon.in/Garnets-Under-Gulmohar-Chetna-Keer/dp/9391800505
