Of Winds and Chimes

Much against my wishes, reluctantly I made the trip to Delhi in the last week of July. The trip ate into Hema’s visit to Bhutan. My efforts to stay back didn’t fruition. I had to go. It was a conference on the training needs.

On the conference day I reached our guest house. As I was making my entry into the guest register, I noticed that Mayank Bisht too was attending the conference (as I learnt he too was posted in the Border Roads set up at Chandigarh). I immediately recollected having read in passing that he had authored a book (on a website of Indian Officers’ Community or something like that).

I didn’t know Mayank well. We’d met a couple of times at different locations and at the most had exchanged pleasantries. Apart from the fact that he was married to his batchmate (Mini Srivastava, a very sweet lady) and he was my junior by a few years I didn’t know anything about him. When I saw that piece of news that he’d a book to his credit, I had felt pangs of envy. I also assumed without giving much thought that it might be related to a subject he’d studied (I later learnt I was wrong and also my envious emotions were replaced with pride on his achievement on getting his work published).

As luck would have it we two were seated together and we had enough time to talk.
“I learn that you’ve written a book?” I enquired.
“Oh Sir, how did you know? Who told you?” Mayank asked with surprise.
“I saw it on the website of Indian Officers’ Community. I don’t know the title or the subject as the site wouldn’t load fast”.
“Sir it’s a novel. It’s called, ‘Of Winds and Chimes’”.
“Ah! What’s it about?”
“As the tagline says, it’s about the making and the un-making of a civil servant”.
“Interesting. I would like to read it. Who’s published it and where would I get a copy of it?”
“Sir it’s been published by one of the lesser-known publishers. If you want to read it I’ll lend a copy of mine”.
“That’d be good”.

Over conversation I also told about my blog to Mayank and promised that I’d write a review of the book on my blog (he in turn promised to read the blog). Immediately once I returned from Delhi. However it didn’t happen till now. I’m trying to now keep up the promise I made.
Of Winds and Chimes is a novel (though I’m privy to the information I wouldn’t divulge if it’s semi-autobiographical) of an IAS aspirant. IAS and not Civil Services in general. It traces the days of Sasanka from the time he chooses to become an IAS Officer to the early days of his selection and training into an allied service. It also harks back to his past (childhood and college days) in ‘flashback’ style and dwells on the influences on his life, how he comes about choosing IAS as his career goal, his preparation, the pains of failure, the pleasures of success, surreptitious sex, growing up among other things.

The book reminded me of my own dream of writing a book on my experience of making it into the civil service. The idea of writing this book might have come to Mayank from English, August though the story and the treatment are different. And, the protagonist in English, August IS an IAS Officer already.

The title of the book, ‘Of Winds and Chimes’ is beautiful and the tagline is enticing. The picture on the cover of the novel (a young boy under the blue sky) captivates the essence of the novel. Mayank also has a wonderful hold on language. There are minor glitches of grammar and repetitive use of certain words (favourites of the author I guess). Mayank definitely has a story to tell, a story that surely would strike a chord among millions of IAS/Civil Services officers and aspirants this country has. There are many experiences that a lot of young men (and women) might relate to in this book. That Mayank has written and published this book shows his immense confidence in his literary abilities (I learn that he’s a poet to boot and Mayank himself says that he’s more comfortable in writing poetry) and that he’s found a publisher is evidence to the book’s readability (as no publisher would want to bring out a book that he might consider ‘reader unworthy’).

Another plus is the protagonist isn’t flawless. He is sketched with all the frailties that makes one a human being. The faults you find in Sasanka are those you could even identify with or lay claim as your own. He comes across alternately as brash, confused, endearing, defeated, directionless and detached. There are no descriptions of his character. You discover him through the flow of events in the narration. Despite his disdain for the fairer sex he also is taught the lesson of life by one of them! Impressive is the word!

However, the novel doesn’t seem complete. Except for Sasanka’s, the other characters aren’t fleshed out. There are too many of them flitting in and out – faceless and formless. Particularly so for all the characters of the opposite sex. One gets the feeling of reading about a bevy of butterflies in a beautiful garden. No more to them. I don’t know if it’s supposed to reflect the disdain of the author for women or if he’s a misogynist (a strong comment this is though)! The novel surely would’ve had more force and a better form had the characters been described and made integral to the story. Of course the author might differ on this (that’s what happened during our brief discussion about the novel but then I hadn’t yet finished reading it completely). And, the protagonist’s unwillingness to ‘go the whole hog’ when it comes to sex is unconvincing and prudish/archaic.

Again, while Mayank describes the process of the making of the civil servant completely the unmaking process is incomplete. The story he relates is not finished. He ends the proceedings abruptly and the finish seems imposed. One is left with a slightly vacant feeling as the book is through – like the look in his mother’s eyes! I really wish he had written a longer version, with well-fleshed supporting cast and a more acceptable unmaking process than finish it in a huff! The book comes with a bonus of one of Mayank’s poems. And that’s a wow!

For a first-time writing effort, Mayank surely deserves kudos. If he betters his usage of language, learns how to integrate conversations into the narration and gives no more raw deals to his non-central characters sure one can expect better works from him in future. All the best!