David's Sling Shot

The setting is India’s southernmost part, the triangle formed by Kanyakumari, the eastern ghats of Coromandel and the western ghats of Malabar. Through this runs the rain-fed Chevathar into the sea and the village bearing the same name. It is coconut, rice, banana, palmyra and mango country, rich with birds, insects (mostly mosquitoes) and serpents. Davidar is moved to ecstasy by its sights and sounds. Though most of the year it is hot as hell, to him it is God’s own country.

The people who inhabit Chevathar are Tamil-speaking. There are a couple of Brahmin families attached to the two Hindu temples, the rest belong to lower castes: Andavars and some others have converted to Christianity but strictly observe the caste hierarchy. Even in the church looked after by a kindly English pastor, they sit apart. The dominant family are the Dorais headed by patriarch Solomon Dorai who is thalaivar of the village, the biggest landowner who resides in the Big House. His wife Charity presides over the ever-growing family, spending most of her time with her kitchen staff preparing a vast variety of Tamilian dishes and pickles for her husband, her progeny and servants.

Lower castes retain memories of their humiliation at the hands of upper-caste Namboodiri Brahmins and Nairs. Their women were expected to leave their breasts bare for the higher-ups to gape at. When some turned Christian and their women began to cover their bosoms, their bras were ripped off them. The so-called Breast Wars were put down by the British rulers. Nevertheless, caste differences continued to play a destructive role in social life. The Chevathar Andavars and Vedhars eyed each other with suspicion. When an Andavar girl about to be married was raped by unidentified goondas and later committed suicide, Solomon concluded the Vedhars had a hand in the crime. It fuelled the existing rivalry over possession of land. There was a violent showdown on the beach. Leaders of both communities were killed. So too was the pastor who tried to separate the warring factions. Solomon’s mantle as head of family passed to son Daniel.

Daniel migrates to the nearby town of Nagercoil to become a pharmacist to a vaidya specialising in Siddha medicine. He then takes over the practice and concocts Moonwhite cream to lighten skin colour. Among a people with skins as dark as ebony, Moonwhite becomes much sought after and Daniel a millionaire. Meanwhile, his younger brother Aaron, who earned fame as the greatest well-jumper and athlete, gets mixed up with anti-British terrorists. He is caught and sentenced to jail for several years and dies of tuberculosis. Daniel decides to return to Chevathar and rebuild the dilapidated Big House and reclaim the lands once owned by his father. The Andavars who had left Chevathar return. The Big House becomes a bigger mansion to enshrine within its edifice the unquenchable spirit of the Dorais. It is renamed after its famous blue mangoes as Neelam Illum. The now extended colony of Dorais becomes Doraipuram.

The two world wars and the freedom movement inevitably cast their shadows on Doraipuram. The one boy who breaks away from the family tradition of marrying first cousins is Daniel’s son Kannan. While in college in Madras he is besotted by an Anglo-Indian girl, Helen. "I’ll strip the sky of its clouds and make a bed for her to lie on," he declares to a friend. A very reluctant Helen agrees to marry him as he has a well-paid job and bungalow in a tea estate. He is the first Indian to be employed by the firm and does his best to come to terms with the whites-only society. Helen is humiliated as a half-caste, takes it out on her brown husband and returns to her family. Kannan redeems himself by helping a white-gone-native kill a man-eating tiger and quits his job to return to Doraipuram. By now his father, who has impoverished himself enriching his fellow villagers, arranges a huge bash for a mass wedding. The Dorais turn up from different parts of the world. The denouement comes with the reading of his will a few days after his death. He leaves nothing for anybody. So ends the Dorai family saga.

Davidar has used a large canvas to portray his family history. Despite the obvious padding, he has produced a masterpiece. As head of a leading publishing house, he knows what will go down with the readers and what will not. The House of Blue Mangoes will go down very well with generations of readers to come. With his first novel, he joins the charmed circle of Indian authors’ millionaires club.