Book Review- Ghachar Ghochar

This is a book translated from Kannada, written by Vivek Shanbhag. This is worth reading for a brilliant translation alone, the likes of which are hard to find, I am sure.

Its narrator is a businessman whose family gets lucky in a business, and gets rich overnight. Mainly, the story concentrates on the narrator's uncle (Chikkappa in Kannada), his father, mother and wife. Each character is developed from scratch, and their peculiarities and singularities come through nicely.

The impact that the sudden entry of money has on the formerly close-knit family is the theme, and the author effortlessly brings out the breaking of the ties, embellished by the break-up of his sister's marriage earlier (she comes back to live with her family). His own marriage also seems on a tightrope, given his wife's idealistic views and his family's pragmatic ones.

Indian literature must certainly have more gems hidden in different languages. Hope we unearth them. This one is beautifully produced in hard cover.