I have for long been an exponent of the wonderful act of eating out alone. I love going to restaurants and watch the incredulous attitude with which families view the solitary eater. Particularly when I demolished an entire Chinese meal by myself. But cafes, old and new, are much more welcoming. You can go there, take your time, enjoy your bun muska and raspberry soda (I don’t drink tea or coffee), and just enjoy the milieu. I’m sure you can picture this in your head already.
Vivek Shanbag’s Ghachar Gochar features multiple scenes in Coffee House, the original vantage point for the narrator’s meetings with an old flame. The unnamed narrator uses the cafe as a refuge post-marriage, with his interactions with the seemingly omniscient waiter Vincent being the highlight of his day. As the plot unravels, we get to know more about the narrator and his family of 6 which has had quite the transformation. Starting off with very modest earnings courtesy of his father, the family is extremely well off courtesy of the entrepreneurial punt by Chikappa (his father’s younger brother) in setting up Sona Masala, the family spice business. This ensured that the family didn’t have to worry about their finances with the business generating substantial deposits in their bank accounts every month. Our man, the narrator, has had the good life, lazing his way through comfort. The family’s sudden upturns contributed to good matches being found for the narrator and his sister Malati, the latter disintegrating very quickly forcing her to return home. The narrator’s marriage on the other hand, with the progressive, independent, and strong-willed Anita is your classic arranged setting trope played out. All is rosy until Anita finds out that her husband’s not really toiling which ultimately leads us back to his sojourn to the cafe. It’s extremely difficult to place whether the family is happy or unhappy, because despite their evident upliftment financially and socially, they seem pretty ghachar ghochar . I’ll let you discover what that means, on your own.
The read: This novella isn’t about the plot at all, but the wonderfully crafted characters that make this what it is. It’s a wonderful spotlight on family dynamics and domestic tropes that plague every household. Each character’s notions, behaviour, and dialogues play into the broader theme while also possessing a unique identity of their own. The ending is quite unexpected but befitting the masterful storytelling by the author. The imagery of the ending scene will stay imprinted in my mind for some time to come, each pixel scurrying into place like the ants described.
Trivia: Just like the one in the book, the famed Coffee House in Kolkata is the basis of the song ‘Coffee Houser sei addata aaj ar nei’ (The chat sessions at the Coffee House have faded away) by Manna Dey, capturing the ‘golden late afternoons’ spent by seven friends at the joint and the successes, frustrations, tragedies, and disappointments which they experienced in their later lives. Here’s the song for you to listen to. (Reference)
Documentation:
Book: Ghachar Ghochar
Author: Vivek Shanbhag, translated by Srinath Perur
Year of Release: 2013
Publisher: Penguin Books