Title: The Liar's Weave
Author: Tashan Mehta
Publisher: Juggernaut Books
Pages: 330
Author: Tashan Mehta
Publisher: Juggernaut Books
Pages: 330
Zahan Merchant is born in 1904 to a Parsi
family in Bombay. In this alternate world, the lives of humans are written in
the stars, and mapped and charted by powerful astrologers, In-Betweens, who can tell you the
year in which you will die and the facts of your life, based on the date, time
and place of your birth. In their words, Everything happens, as it should
happen, because it has already happened.
But the astrologers are powerless to
interpret Zahan’s future, for, it seems, that the gods erred this once and
Zahan has been born without one, or more accurately, and confusingly as
astrologer Narayan Tarachand discovers, with almost infinite futures.
Tarachand takes the problem to his
In-between friends, Krishna and Svasa.
The error of the gods gives Zahan his
power: he can alter the weave of the future with his lies, a talent he
discovers at age 7. It is a secret that he shares only with older brother,
Sorab.
But there is a catch. Sometimes it is a
power he has, and sometimes, it’s a power that frightens him. For he cannot see
the realities he creates for others. Knowing the truth nullifies the effect of
the lie.
There is a forest, Vidroha (Hindi for
protest, rebellion), deep in the heart of Bombay, which is home to the
hatadaiva, the ill-fated. Here Yaatri, a nomad from the Banjara tribe; Liling,
Chinese medicine woman; acrobat Tamarin and his wife, Jia, both from the
circus, hold court, inspired by Niyat, half-man, half-legend. They give succour
to other ill-fated, while yearning to break the stranglehold of fate.
Yaatri meets Zahan and his best friend,
Porthos, both 16, and invites them into Vidroha, hoping Porthos will re-write
their fate. Meanwhile, the Sapta Puri, the seven holy universities, are equally
interested in Zahan and how he alters the weft and warp of life.
Already new realities are coming about.
Fortunates are suffering; the ill-fated have flashes of luck. But can you
interfere with reality without suffering the consequences?
Vidroha’s desire to change their destinies
will destroy lives. And neither Zahan nor Tarachand, who uses Zahan’s power to
his own advantage, will come out of this unscathed.
The novel integrates ancient Indian myths
with Hindu mythology, creating characters and locales that are part-truth and
part-fiction, interspersing the mundane with the cosmic. It shows us how the
lives of human beings pan out, while the astrologers attempt to play god. These
are lines for us, lives for them, Tarachand chides himself. And yet, as the omniscient
narrator reminds us, No matter what the wisdom of the stars, human imagination
is stronger.
As a premise, it is intriguing and
frightening. In the wrong hands, a power like Zahan’s could wreck lives. Horoscopes
and birth charts are one belief that Parsis take as seriously as Hindus. But in
this world, it seems, that everyone is held captive to the birth chart.
The story is written in the present tense,
in the third person PoV of the characters. Interspersed with the main narrative
are excerpts from Tarachand’s book, The Perspective of an In-between.
The similes used in the writing are
earthy. Beard like unspun cotton. The prose is evocative, stylized, not as
ordinary people might speak. But this is a fantastic world, and so it feels
right.
The novel is set in Hindu Colony, Parsi
Colony and in Vidroha, besides Benares. The writing in Vidroha is rich and
dense, decadent and lush, while that in the two residential colonies is almost
genteel, sparse and succinct, in comparison.
The story is set against the backdrop of
the struggle against the British for independence. Zahan initially wants to use
his dancing tongue to guide the fate of his country. But the struggle for
Independence is merely a placeholder. In this alternate world, the astrologers
study individual lives; they will not study the fate of the country, the
narrator tells us.
There are a few historical facts that come
up. The fact that the British introduced the Criminal Tribes Act, a piece of
legislation that threatened the diversity of India and pronounced Yaatri and
his people, the Banjaras, and hundreds of other tribes criminal.
Beyond a few cursory mentions, the author
tells us nothing about it. And that made me feel cheated. Why not just make it
a story about a boy who can lie the truth into existence? Why bring the fate of
a country into the mix, if you do not mean to take it to its just conclusion?
The names of the leading characters,
Yaatri, Tamarin, Liling, Umaan were unreal, fictional, and yet they seemed
relatable. Yaatri signifies the journey, Porthos is a character from The Three
Musketeers, while Zahan is as Yaatri describes him, Zzzz-haan. Like a bee and
an exhale.
The characters have their own compulsions.
Porthos wants to know if he is hatadaiva. The others in Vidroha want their
ill-fortune transformed.
Tarachand, whose future decrees that he
could be Dagdhavasta, head of Sapta Puri, is bothered by the anomaly of Zahan.
If the gods have missed him, what else have they missed? If the gods have
intended him, what is the purpose of that intention?
The author, young as she is, has a firm
grasp of the emotions of the characters, as they struggle in vain to live their
lives. The bond between the two brothers, Zahan and Sorab, was poignant, and I felt for Zahan, and the loss of his relationship with Sorab.
The world is being made anew, with every
word from a liar’s mouth.
The author treats us to the psychology of
the lie. You cannot, absolutely cannot, break eye contact… You must believe
your lie, with every ounce of fibre you possess. Love it, nurture it, trust
it.
The best lies are the ones between two
truths.
What is a lie but a fictional story? And here,
stories are described as The currency of your soul.
The novel teases you, confuses you but you
bide your time, for as the narrator has told you, Secrets have to ripen before
they can be diced; mysteries brew before they clear.
My beloved St Xavier’s College features in
this book. Beyond it, it was fascinating to read about Bombay, my favourite
city. This city lost so much of its character when its spirit was quelled, and
it was asked to keep mum.
Mum-bai.
Why is it always women who are asked to
shut up?
I was sorry to see Zahan go, at the end of
the book. There seemed so much more that would happen in his life. Surely the
gods would not let him go his peaceful way.
What is that thing they say about a liar?
Once a liar... always a liar.
(I received a free copy of this book from Juggernaut Books for the purpose of a fair and honest review.)
(I received a free copy of this book from Juggernaut Books for the purpose of a fair and honest review.)