ART OF IDEALISM

 

 

The crisis in Indian agriculture and the haunting spectre of farmers committing suicide by the thousands is something that engages and worries every concerned Indian. Yet, it is quite strange for a journalist to write a novel which has the deplorable state of the farm sector in the country as its backdrop. RiverStones is a quaint work of fiction by former Indian Express journalist Kota Neelima; quaint almost à la Bollywood movies, where an unlikely hero takes on the entire establishment against all odds and emerges triumphant at the end.

The protagonist is Arihant Mohan who is a senior journalist in a daily newspaper that is known for its investigative stories (Neelima worked for Indian Express after all!). Arihant, or Ari is going through frequent bouts of angst and is wistfully nostalgic about his former lover, who is now married and settled in Australia. Ari is also upset that his professor and mentor, Dr. Hamsa, is upset with him for ‘wasting his life’. While covering a fast unto death by a well known activist demanding reforms in agriculture, Ari witnesses brutal cops beating the activist to death in the heart of Delhi.

Ari picks up the cudgel and announces his own fast unto death. Eventually, after trying to ignore his strange behaviour, the government succumbs to his demands as farmers in their thousands descend upon Delhi to support Ari. Even his former girlfriend flies back from Australia.

Despite such Bollywood touches, the book is well written and covers an important issue that confronts India.