An engineer by training, Vivek Shanbhag writes in Kannada. He has five short story collections, three novels, and two plays many of which have been adapted for the stage and one has been made into a short film as well. Ghachar Ghochar was translated by Srinath Perur, the author of the travelogue ‘It It’s Monday, It Must Be Madurai’. As far as translated works go, this is a good one to pick up. The language is smooth and you find yourself wondering how beautiful the actual text might be because the original is almost always better. 

I first chanced upon the translated version of Ghachar Ghochar at Sanu Ko Pustakalaya but I had to return the book before I could read it. Then since I didn’t renew my subscription at the library, choosing instead to buy books as it’s the one investment I truly believe in, I never got to read it. I finally found a copy at Bookverse in Civil Mall, Sundhara, and read it in a single sitting. The book is just a little over a 100 pages long and reads like a thriller. There’s so much happening that you don’t want to put it down. 

At its heart, the book is a simple story about a family’s changing lifestyle as they build a business and it brings them more money than they could have ever imagined. It’s the story of a single family but there are many characters that add different layers to the plot. You get to see the same story unfold from different perspectives. It’s not just a rags to riches story but a family drama that feels like something you would see in every other regular Asian home. 

On the surface, Ghachar Ghochar tells a story about a middle-class Indian family. But at its core, it examines shifting family dynamics, hierarchy, and the covert and overt ways in which patriarchy exerts itself. The father of the narrator is the only breadwinner and they lead a simple life. Then his uncle starts a business which becomes successful and overnight their fortunes change. They move into a bigger house from their ant-infested space and suddenly they don’t have to plan their purchases. Money brings many changes but the family still struggles to leave their past and old values behind.

Despite being so short, it’s a very layered work, one that forces you to think of the many facets of life and how the lives of family members are intricately woven and not everything is simple and straightforward. I really enjoyed it and the ending shocked me and moved me to think of things like class, gender, and the privileges we take for granted. It also, in many ways, felt like a commentary on how money often controls us, how it can both motivate and manipulate, and bring out the best and worst in us depending on what we let it do. 

Fiction

Ghachar Ghochar

Vivek Shanbhag

Translated from the Kannada by Srinath Perur

Published: 2015

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Pages: 117, Paperback