CP Surendran One Love, and the Many Lives of Osip B. Captures the chaos of change both in individuals and in the nation. As we enter the world of Osip Bala Krishnan, we fall into a web of narratives that take us through the daily life of a young man and his turbulent psychological world. His inner turmoil caused by his inability to separate the real from the fiction is also reflected in the society around him. We are inundated with many moments of ‘becoming’ that transform people, relationships and value systems.
Communism slips into Stalinism and dreams of secularism are realized in the rigid shape of majoritarianism. Justice is often hijacked by the mob value system and social media platforms become places where people are accused and punished. The hills, the cities of the north, Kerala, Britain and Russia are prominent. Kashmir becomes the rebellious place of the mind. “I traveled to my Spanish republic of Kashmir, fought for the independence of the other, for the other…,” Osip says.
We first meet Osip when he is 18 years old, a student of a boarding school in Kasauli. An orphan, he was adopted by Niranjan Menon, a communist from Kerala. He names the boy after the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, who was persecuted by Stalin and exiled to Siberia, where he died of hunger in 1938. As the name suggests, the erstwhile USSR cast a long shadow over the story.
Osip falls in love with his English teacher, Elizabeth. Uncomfortable having sex with her student, Elizabeth leaves for England and the novel follows Osip as he pursues her. The changes in India are portrayed with sarcasm, but as the narrative eases, one finds that it is not easy to take sides or be politically correct. Kerala has taught Osip that one ideology cannot be competed with by another. “My grandfather was a great communist leader in Kerala – a state that is as real as fiction, where revolution was always going to happen, but not at the last minute, so it could happen… again.”
The idea of ’India’ is in constant flux and as author Arjun Bedi, Osip’s reluctant mentor, puts it, “India looks to its past”. Anand, Osip’s friend, decides to capitalize on the moment and establish himself as a successful cleric.
Young journalist duo Dev and Diya chase Arjun, trying to accuse him of sexual abuse. But they are more caricatures. The novel is dedicated to ‘victims and their victims’, which shuts down any possibility of a definite code of right and wrong. As Arjuna says with echoes of Thomas Beckett, “So, I bow and heel to the state of my exile, which I console myself is an essential stage of a writer’s development, but …
Media baron Alok Jain, who gets a job in the newspaper Osip, is a ruthless news maker. As a journalist, Osip finds that reality is what a billionaire can command as he wishes. A background score is a heated debate on nighttime television, with people accusing people of anti-nationalism and corruption. Surendran’s experience in the newsroom is reflected in vivid descriptions.
As Osip’s grandfather deteriorates, his wife Gloria strategizes his image, mixing communism with feminism, without trusting anyone. If her husband was actively involved in this task and lost himself in it, then Gloria is a smart player.
Another character, Idris Abbottabad, was known as “a part-time thief … a train attendant … he is part-time everything”. Idris, who transforms his religion, his past, and his identity in search of his existence, best captures the ethos of the narrative.
The novel reminds us that identity, nationality and beliefs are never fixed. We keep moving towards it, half knowing that we will never get there.
(It appeared in the print edition as “Liminal Space, Liminal Lives”)
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