person who has a full
name—Jesus Lambodara
Pillai,orJLPillai,whoit
seemsis thesonof the37th
reincarnation of Jesus
Christandhailsfroma vil-
lageinTirunelveli,Tamil
Nadu.Heis a hangmanby
professionandis,bypas-
sion, a “meditative wit-
ness”ora voyeurinplain
language.Heisa shape-
shifterandaflier.Hisoft-
adopted formis thatofa
bat because his mentor
whotaughthimtofly wasa
youngvirgin, a ladybat.
Hisinitiationintoflying
wasdonewhenshebithis
shoulder.
Spiderappears tobe
timid,a partialhypochon-
driac.Heis anticipating to
bedone inbyhumanas
wellas astralagents allthe
time.Hebelievesthatthe
walkingdead arepopulat-
ing hisneighbourhood—
peoplewhohesuspects are
deadbutdonotrealisethat
theyaredead.Heevensus-
pectshiswifeto beanalien
outto spyonhim.
Heis afraidof Rosi,al-
thoughtotallydependent
onherforeverything.Rosi
places empirical experi-
enceaboveeverythingelse
andhas madeadvances
intothemetaphysical,so
muchso thatPillai,assum-
ingtheshapeof a crowand
peeping at hernakedbody
in heroilbath,“witnesses”
her“metaphysicalbody”.
Therealactionbegins
whenSpideris taskedwith
writinganessayon“com-
passion” forthesouvenirof
theCommunistParty,as
partoffundraisingefforts
tosupport comrades.For
Spiderit is a realchallenge
as hehadneverwrittenany
non-fictionbefore.Hehad
been prevaricating for
quitesometimeandhad
beguntodreadthedead-
line.It is atthisjuncture
thatPillaifliesininthe
shapeofa crow,andbe-
gins, in due course, to
practicallydictatethees-
say,tothegreatdelightof
Spider.
Pillai assumestherole
ofa subservient,slobber-
ingfanof thegreatwriter,
butis cunningenoughto
holdforthonhispoint.He
has his levitating and
swooning propensities,
and changes into bird
shape whenever he is
frightened by circum-
stances—moreoftenin the
nature of Brother Dog
makinganattemptonhis
life.
Theactionmovesfor-
wardintheprocessof the
writingof theessay, mostly
as a dialogue between
SpiderandPillai. Running
along,orstuddedonthe
frame oftheessaytem-
plate,arenarrativesthat
flesh out the novel. All
these narrations and
Spider’s own stream of
consciousness areunder-
pinnedbya darksenseof
humour.SUB-NARRATIVES
The sub-narratives are
peopled withextraordin-
arycharacters.LikeAm-
bujamNair whowitnesses
Deathsendinghercheat-
ingparamourtoa sudden
endupona railwayplat-
formandgloats overit. Or,
MaryMathew,thedisillu-
sionedwifewhosescient-
ist-husbandIgnatiushas
beensleepingwithhisaunt
throughout their mar-
riage, denying her any
sexual fulfilment. When
confronted,hetricksher
intodivorcewitha prom-
iseoflife-timeroyaltyfor
his unsold booksas ali-
mony,andsheadvertises
for a husband whocan
provide her with steady
sex,andis armedwithaKalashnikovto wardoff
possibleintruders.
Yetanothercharacter
is a famous philosopher
whodrinkstoblankness,
andsoakedin hisownpee
in thebathroom, imagines
himselftobehisfriend, a
newspapereditor, whohe
thinks is cuckoldinghim.
Tarzan, the stud-bull,
Spider’scompanioninhis
adolescence, who, prob-
ablyin reverie aboutyoung
andbuxomcowswhom he
couldservice, breaksup
thefuneralprocessionof a
popular matinee idol,
which Spiderstillbelieves
wasa megafilmshoot,is a
typicalone.
Anotheroneis Pillai in
hisearlierincarnationas a
frogwhois caughtinthe
jaws of a single-father
snake whois outhunting
for preyforhis starving
children.Theclever frog
giveshimtheslipusinga
ruse,probablycaughtin
thecycleof karma,whena
frog-catchercutsthefrog
foritshindlegstobesold
inthemarketandthrows
thebleedingbodyintothe
bush.Theangrysnake,de-
prived of hisprey,bitesthe
frog-catcher fatally, but
gets himself cut in two
with the frog-catcher’s
knife.Allthreedie,posing
theultimateissueof com-
passion—as to who will
lookafterthebabysnakes.
Therearea fewmoreepis-
odesattached tothemain
narrative around such
fantasticcharactersinthe
great Indian storytelling
traditionof “storywithina
story”.
Earlyinthenarrative,
Pillai revealsto Spiderthat
thereisa ValleyofLost
Songs in the Eastern
Mountainswhere,“oncer-
tain nights, forgotten
songs gather and share
memories” and dispersebefore sunrise. Pillai
promisesto help Spider
andhiswifechangeshape
andtakethemtotheval-
ley.
Oneof thehighpoints
inthenovel,towardsthe
end,is howPillaikeepshis
promise. He helps even
Brother Dog to change
intoa batandallofthem
fly offto thevalley.Onthe
way,theyencounterSatan
(whom Spider had
dreaded asEnemyNum-
berOnefromthebegin-
ning,butprovedtobean
amiable giant, as described
in the story “Satan
Brush”—originallywritten
byThomasJoseph,writer
of exquisite stories in
Malayalam),GodandJe-
susChristin theskypaths.
Finally,theyalightatthe
siteof theassemblyof the
LostSongs.Zacharia, des-
pitehiscarefulavoidance
ofromanticlyricism, has
builtthishighlyevocative
sceneintothenarrative to
emphasise theliberating
effectof pure imagination,
based on an extremely
pleasurable personal ex-
perience tinged with
nostalgia.
Thisnovelis a kindof
fictionin whichanythingis
possible. Usingwordslike
“zany” to describe the
twistsandturns that“real-
ity” undergoes in the
courseofnarrationis cer-
tainlyinadequate.Ifit is
dystopian,it is hilariously
so,andexudesa positive
energy. It stareslidlessat
reality as it is,piercing
throughalloutward forms,
andasksSphinx-likeques-
tionsthroughhumourand
satire. Itcalls upon the
readerto gripfirmlyonthe
handlebar ofthegiant-
wheelseatandgiveinto
thesheerexhilarationof
experiencing the unpar-
alleled. $