Review: ഗുരുസാഗരം | Gurusagaram

ഗുരുസാഗരം | Gurusagaram by O.V. Vijayan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis:

The story follows the lonely life of a retired soldier Kunjunni, currently working as a newspaper reporter. The last scion of a family of a distinguished family, now marred by decline, there are very few things which prompts Kunjunni to continue loving.

Chief among them, is the love for his daughter Kalyani, living in Calcutta with his ex-wife Shivani. Another, is the friendship of his former colleague and best friend Balakrishnan. Balan, as he is affectionately called, suffered a great personal tragedy, losing both his wife and child. In his final years, he found solace in meeting his spiritual guru, who then consecrated him to be an ascetic, rechristening him as ‘Nirmalananda’. He now spends his time in meditation and peace, in his farmlands. Kunjunni visits him from time to time, partly to seek his counsel, but mostly for companionship.

Other than his friend, the only constants in his life are his work, as well as his helper, Syam Nandan Singh, a former chef in the armed forces who now resides with Kunjunni. Also, their cat Mani, of whom Kalyani, through her letters is quite fond of.

Kunjunni goes through life as if in a lucid dream. His work is nothing more than an avenue to keep his mind occupied. He occasionally spends time with his colleagues and editors, engaged in intellectual discourses in regards to the current state of politics and war in the world.

There is this colleague of Kunjunni, Lalitha, with whom he shares some romantic overtures. But these are indistinguishable as either romantic or the familiar love to a younger sibling.

The only high points of Kunjunni’s days are the occasional letters which he receives from Kalyani. Who fills him in on how her life is going, enquiring his own experiences, as well as being passionate about Mani. She also earnestly wishes for him to visit her more often, so that they can spend some quality time together. Kunjunni, while loving her, is unsure of doing so, perhaps due to the scars left by his separation with Shivani.

As fate would have it, the overtures of war between the nations, takes Kunjunni to Calcutta, to the border to cover the news. And thus gives him a chance to visit his daughter and meet with old acquaintances from his military days. He spends some time with Kalyani, creating precious memories. We see the cold indifference he still faces from his ex-wife. Who, we've come to believe, is in a relationship with a fellow doctor.

In this journey, we through Kunjunni see and experience the melancholy over the changing times, the people who are left behind as time marches forward, those from the downtrodden facets of society who’re always exploited by those in power. Then of course, the horrors of war, and the lives and families who’re displaced, are sundered, and suffer due to it.

Kunjunni, over the course of his correspondence, shares the experiences of soldiers in the front line, refugees in slum-like camps, innocent bystanders who suffer and die as war rages around them. He himself almost dies, being caught in an explosion.

Waking up from the near death experience, in a world of pain, Kunjunni is assaulted with a news which hurts him more than physical wounds. Kalyani has been diagnosed with a terminal form of blood cancer. She now lies in the ICU, teetering over the edge.

Despite his injuries, Kunjunni stubbornly travels to her side. Even though Kalyani never opens her eyes, or is able to talk to him, he nonetheless stays by her side. Until the final moments of her life.

After her death, as if this trauma were not enough, Shivani undergoing inner turmoil of her own, gets down on her knees and confesses to Kunjunni the terrible secret. Kalyani was not his biological daughter. She was rather born out of an affair she had with her now lover.

Unable to bear the stream of life-changing tragedies and revelations that accost him, Kunjunni bids a final goodbye to the child that loved him like a daughter. He then travels to Nirmalanandan's ashram, to seek some solace.

There, the ascetic offers his childhood friend a shoulder to grieve on, listening to his sorrows, even to his horror at no longer being able to remember the child as his daughter, and the guilt which it brings forth.

Nirmalanandan, in remembrance of his own losses, shows empathy to the inner conflict of his friend. He leads the distraught father to recovery, and shows him a path; to inner peace and enlightenment. As his guru has done once for him, now Nirmalanandan becomes the guru to Kunjunni, passing on the light of knowledge to his now disciple.

Kunjunni, in his moment of clarity, realizes that regardless of the circumstances of her birth, Kalyani was his daughter by spirit, and by the covenant of love. He will continue to love her, to grieve for her, and to pray that, in another life, they are reborn as family yet again. To live out life, and form precious memories on the banks of some great river. As he had with his father before him. As she had with her father.

Review

The story follows the twilight years of characters, who suffered numerous tragedies in life, and now struggle to find purpose in continuing it. Set in the backdrop of the 1971 Bangladesh war for independence, the story also serves as a critique for wars waged for frivolous purposes, as well as the authoritarian nature of communist regimes.

There is a psychedelic quality in the writings of Vijayan. Something which is observed in his other works, such as മധുരം ഗായതി Madhuram Gayathi, and his seminal work, ‘ ഖസാക്കിന്റെ ഇതിഹാസം Khasakkinte Ithihasam The Legends of Khasak’ (The legend of Khasak).

It seems that malayalam writers at the time, be it M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, M. Mukundan or O. Vijayan, were quite the empathetic intellectuals. Most of the works by them, as well as the ones which shaped the Malayalam literature landscape, dealt with more realistic societal conflicts and human challenges.

Vijayan is not an exception in this. He however was able to tap into this generational consciousness, intermixing religion, spirituality, real history and human frailties and flaws in a narrative that read like a meandering river rather than anything cohesive.

They don’t try to excite or enthrall you with cheap twists of surprises. Like a stoic monk on a pilgrimage, his characters play out the drama of life; taking in joys and tragedies with a sombre outlook.

In many ways, Gurusagaram is a semi autobiographical work. It parallels the life and experiences of the author, including his spiritual awakening in later life, after meeting his own guru. Which would make this an offering to his teacher.

First published in 1987, this work sits in a unique niche in history. It’s not as old as those works written in the independence period so as to feel a level of disconnect. Neither is it recent to be colored by contemporary views. I felt this oddity, when the story starts with discussing the incursions by the Soviet Union onto other European nations; in the present tense. And how the communist regime threatened to strangle the free world in the future.

With the benefit of hindsight, one might not appreciate the full gravity of the issue at the time. After all, canonically, the story is set around 1971, when the cold war was still at its height. The world is still inching ever closer to midnight on the doomsday clock.

The role and influence of the Soviet Union is still prevailing, and a bit muddled. Considering how, in history, it had chosen to side with India in the conflict; supporting the formation of Bangladesh by proxy. The Americans had chosen the losing side and still paid for the shortsightedness, choosing to support the genocidal activities of the pakistani regime. Goes to show there are no permanent good/bad guys in world affairs.

Most of Vijayan’s stories are an acquired taste, in my opinion. So, don’t expect many things to keep you ‘hooked’ in the narrative. It’s meant to be contemplative, reflective, and largely melancholic. But perhaps more profound to those who are farther on in life; or have felt the sense of loss, loneliness or lack of purpose plaguing them.

View all my reviews