The Man who Never was

The Calcutta Chromosome by Amitav Ghosh My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews The Calcutta Chromosome; Detailed Review Review In most Colonial era fiction which I’ve read, Indians are usually portrayed as belonging to one of two categories. Either the heroic freedom fighters who engage the British in a symbolic but futile struggle, and martyr themselves. Or, the subservient serfs, who excel in cronyism and would sell their own mother for praise from their White masters. Sort of pigeon holed both. Hence it was a breath of fresh air to see a tale, where the snooty, bigoted overlords are being led by the nose by those whom they consider virtually nonexistent. The Calcutta Chromosome follows a narrative across multiple time periods and characters; all of whom have brushes with a mysterious secretive cult centered around a seemingly immortal demigod Mangala didi. A tale bordering on convoluted, science fiction mystery, with a pervasive colonial presence and smudges