To say that Neelakshi Singh’s novel Khela or play is about the play of power-that-be in this civilization, controlling the price of crude oil and the collaterals of religious fundamentalism and terrorism would be less than half-truth. It is mostly about the journey of a middle-class girl, Vara Kulkarni, peeping through the jute-sacks of partition of a joint family to look at the estranged family’s life to her looking into a world riddled by conspiracies, violence and displacement. Yes, that’s Vara K for you, constantly peering from her triangular cabin in the volatile price-index-calculating office, even climbing on the table to do so. Curiosity, and daredevil propensity to explore her destiny drive Vara, even if it leads to rape in Budapest and being forcibly interned to be part of a suicidal squad of religious rogues.
Again, it is not fair to tell the story of Khela conclusively like this, harping on the pages towards the end of the book. This novel is more about exploration of feelings or the lack of the ability to feel, in a language that makes the reader realize that there are infinite nuances to everything that surrounds us.