The Hindu Business Line : Surviving e-topia!

It's a chilling account of an era that is partially here and a future that appears inevitable... where highly successful and "stressed out" spouses use separate bedrooms, each seeking his or her "space"; where legal contracts are drawn before marriage listing who will inherit what in case of a divorce; where lucrative stock options make millionaires whose lavish habits turn into a nightmare when the equity market plunges; and worst of all, where an 8-year-old girl who'd rather play with dolls than chat with friends on the Net is dubbed "problem child".

Caught in this world of tech millionaires created by G.B. Prabhat in his second novel Eimona, is 84-year-old Subbu — nicknamed Pantu Thatha (Grandpa of the Pants) because the dhoti-clad man indulged his grandson just once by donning a pair of trousers for a brief while — with his "old world" beliefs and values.

At the outset the author warns us that Eimona can't be found on the map, and yet it is so real that it can be found in Europe, America, India... anywhere and everywhere.

Subbu's grandson Bharat is a highly successful investment banker and his wife Indu is a tough taskmaster at Paragon Software, where she runs her team with an iron hand. Brought up to be a `winner' she extends her stern management skills to her home, where Bharat, even though a successful professional himself, meekly falls in line.

Subbu maintains his peace with Indu, till it comes to her constant references to her daughter Maya as a "problem" child. This is because the child finds no charm in Internet addiction or computer games. Little Maya finds it difficult to get her parents' attention between their hectic office and party schedules and develops a special relationship with her great grandfather Subbu, who understands the child's need to play in the park, stare at trees, read Arabian Nights. Above all he understands her when she says that squirrels running up and down on the trees should be left there and not put on the computer as a screen saver!

One of the interesting passages in Eimona is when Indu and Bharat go to file a police complaint against the defacing of a wall in their apartment complex, and she is convinced that a fisherman from the nearby fishing community is responsible for the `crime'.

As they enter into an argument on the poor/rich divide in the country, the police superintendent says she talks "like the lady of sometime ago who said that if people didn't have bread, let them eat cakes. You know what happened to her, of course?"

Indu's response: "Who's she?"

When the incredulous man says surely she must have read some history and philosophy, Indu says defiantly, "No, I have not. I underwent Focused Courses. We had to learn lots of Java, XML. Web services. We had no time for history and philosophy. Thank heavens for that. Don't think you can talk down to me."

This in a nutshell contains a frightening snapshot of today's/tomorrow's generation obsessed with science and technology, seeing little merit in knowledge in arts, music, philosophy.

In Eimona Prabhat has made a vast improvement over his last novel, Chains, published in 2000. The characters are well-rounded real-life people, complete with their weaknesses, greed, eccentricities and idiosyncrasies as well as their strengths and merits.

Pantu-thatha will brook no nonsense from Indu, and yet dotes on Maya with a rare tenderness; Indu, the nattily dressed and attractive woman with "the hour-glass figure", who insists on buying a black strapless gown on the way to the TV station for an interview during a tragic occasion; Bharat, with his obsession for the stock ticker that keeps him informed of his net worth; Aaya, with her snoring and common ways which frustrate Indu who'd like to refer to her as au pair or Nanny.

And then there is this strange relationship between Indu and her father Kamesh, who lives by himself in an apartment and suffers from all kinds of physical ailments. He had brought up both his son and daughter to be "winners". The son is away in the US in a highly lucrative job and has paid only a brief visit to the father in seven years, and Indu firmly rejects Subbu's suggestion that he move in with them, reminding Subbu once again that he himself is being tolerated because he is useful in ensuring the smooth running of the household, helping Maya with her homework and taking good care of the child for whom the parents have little time.

Eimona leaves us with disturbing thoughts and questions. Are we heading into an era where a wife will lend money to the husband who is in financial trouble only after drawing up a legal contract to ensure repayment of the loan? Where single occupants of apartments change partners casually? Where a child cannot be promoted without a psychiatric evaluation just because she lacks "social skills" such as chatting with friends on the Internet? Where audiences listen with rapt attention to a Western speaker who says how essential it is to say several times in a day "I love you" to the spouse if the marriage is to survive!

Once you start the book, Eimona grips you with both curiosity and intensity, particularly because it gives you glimpses of Prabhat's characters in your family, relatives, friends, and even yourself.

You have to find out what happens to Subbu and Maya in particular... are they swallowed in the whirlpool or manage to swim against the tide. And then the book takes an unexpected twist, and the author leaves you with a bit of a mystery.

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

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