Squandered Riches
P. Radhika
VARANASI by M.T. Vasudevan Nair Orient BlackSwan, Noida, 2014, 211 pp., 740
October 2014, volume 38, No 10

It is doubtful whether even the most confirmed admirers of M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s novels will judge Varanasi (2002) as a mature or profound work. The reason?  Certainly not the lack of good, solid ingre-dients in the composition. Paradoxically, plenitude seems to cause the narrative to implode under its own weight. It has an evocative setting, a huge cast of characters, a relatively heavy plot and a set of universal themes that leave the slim novel (running to less than 200 pages) bursting at its seams.  And the achronological method of narration, though intended to add suspense to the story, actually gives it a cluttered feel.

Varanasi is essentially about a peripatetic character Sudhakaran whose frequent shifts in profession and change of lovers are decided more by an urge to run away from responsi-bilities and commitment than by a desire for new experiences or greater adventure. As he moves from Kerala to Bombay, Bangalore, Varanasi, Madras and finally returns to Varanasi, he leaves an unbelievably long trail of broken love affairs and distraught women —the innocent Soudamini, the bold and forthright Gita, the manipulative Shanta, the whimsical Sumita and the warm-hearted Madelyn—and a couple of unseen sons.  Sudhakaran is equally adept at moving from one job to another.  He works as a proof reader in a newspaper office, as a copy writer at an advertisement firm, a researcher at a university, a lecturer in a college and finally a member of the Indian Civil Services.

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