In search of spiritual solace

A Grasshopper’s Pilgrimage by Manjushree Abhinav
Rupa. Pages: 173. Price: Rs. 150/-

Why ‘grasshopper’? This question hops onto one’s mindscape the moment one reads the title. It is one of the most unromantic and non-spiritual species belonging to the Orthoptera genus. Its cousin, the cricket, would have been better perhaps – at least it generates a modicum of music at night, lending a spiritual halo to tranquil nights. But then, while the critic carps, the deed has been done already; so let’s move on to the narrative. Pretty Gopika, this novel’s protagonist, desperately searches for love and spiritual fulfillment. In the process she visits various temples and spiritual centres, gets infatuated with Ramesh – a spiritual guru, and encounters men ranging from the fat Gurpreet to debonair Fareed – with a posse of firangs thrown in. If you are anticipating a spicy saga of sex and spiritualism, banish the thought. The novel hardly delves into spiritualism; there are “spiritual” persons like the weighing machine walla who moonlights as Baba on a mosque’s footsteps in Mumbai – with a motley crowd of desi and firang seekers surrounding him; or the mendicant who chants “Arunachala Shiva” while begging for alms on Tiruvannamalai’s mountainous roads. Gopika experiments with Vipassana too. In the name of love or sex there are platonic/pseudo-romantic encounters with a bunch of ragtag drug-addicts-on-the-mend and the faceless Gurpreet and other caricatures. Only the debonair Fareed gets to bed Gopika. Her spiritual quest climaxes with her return to the mystical Mount Tiruvannamalai.

Good for a breezy onceover.

THE TRIBUNE