Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai

"Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard" a debut novel by Kiran Desai. This book is published by Faber & Faber in 2012 and has 224 pages. Kitten is winner of Booker prize for her second novel.

Shahkot is a typical town in north India with government offices, schools, bazaar etc. Mr Chawla and his wife Kulfi are expecting a child who they would name Sampath. When Sampath Chawla was born, a number of coincidences happened. An airplane dropped relief aid meant for someone else in their backyard. Suddenly thundering rain came to douse the unbearable heat causes by drought. When he grew up, he was considered good for nothing. He was differently wired. This trait has come to him from his mother's eccentric family.

He drapes himself in women's cloths at the wedding of daughter of his boss. Then enters fountain and disrobes completely. Obviously losing his job in post office. Shamed by his behavior his family does not know what to do. In order to escape from all of it, he takes a bus out of town. Goes to a guava orchard on the outskirts, climbs a guava tree and tests in peace. The news of a man living on the tree reaches Shahkot.

Few people go their to see the spectacle. Sampath spots a couple of persons, whose letters he had read in the post office, and asks them questions based on that secret information. Suddenly people start thinking that this baba living in the tree has special powers. He becomes a cult figure, a baba. He keeps delivering one liners that are absurd and meaningful at the same time. His father shrewdly turns this into a money making opportunity.

What does the baba really know? How do monkeys come into equation? Will baba descend from the tree? Will it become a business or will some good come out of it? Will the atheist spy who is trying to expose baba succeed?

This book is written in the fashion of a satire with parody sprinkled over it for flavor. The characters are bizarre. The book even become melodramatic once or twice. The town society, government, establishment everything is made fun of.

This book sould be read with a different mindset, without applying  too much rationality. It should be looked at as a satire. Various Baba's have come to be in India because of irrational behavior of common public. This book tries to depict one such scenario.

Kiran has written a good book. (Mind you, she and her mother are both winners of Booker prize). While reading this book, I could not help remember a fantastic Marathi story Mhais (म्हैस) of Pu. LA. Deshpande (पु. ल. देशपांडे) written many years before this book.

A good book. Read if you liked the flavor of the story.