Comedy and erotica
Farida Shaikh dwells on ideas
Burial At Sea is a long, short story by Khushwant Singh, a widely read contemporary writer. The book is a quick mix of fictional formulae with a blend of history, the partition period, political doctrine, capitalism-communism, amoral life reflected in death and disaster on personal account against the looming shape of sexuality. Like another great story teller, Naguib Mahfouz's great novel, The Beginning and the End, death, funeral, and burial are also the beginning and the end of the story, Burial at Sea. The story is deeply embedded in encounters and events that have occurred in the writer's own life. Love, Truth and a Little Malice is the title of Singh's biography. In this story Mr. Mattoo earns more as the chairman of his son's company than he has done as a lawyer; the fact that Jai Bahgwan's business empire started out with a textile mill is similar to the writer's personal history. This work has also been described as a literary version of Osha Rajneesh by The Times of India. He was a mystic and spiritual teacher who settled in Bombay. Speaking out against socialism, Mahatma Gandhi and institutionalised religion, he advocated a liberal attitude towards sexuality. The characters of Victor Jai Bhagwan, whose dream is to make India rich and prosperous; his close friend Madhavan Nair, from Kerala, who reminds Victor of Shakespeare's Cassius; Victor's daughter Bharati and the tantric god-woman Ma Durgashwari are all sketched against these ideals. The narration follows a linear fashion. Reading is regular to the end, though the conclusion of the story is a hurried one It is as if the writer has become a bit impatient while narrating telling the story. However, if one were to read the book on a long flight, the end of the story would appear to be quite agreeable! The story, which begins on a calm note and moves on steadily, becomes too loaded with happenings and incidents over too short a period. And towards the end of the story, the reader feels kind of 'fast forwarded.' Victor Jai Bhagwan loses his temper with the leader of the unions and slaps him hard, who shouts back crude epithets and abusive terms one after the other. The tantric god-woman Durgeshwari comments: 'Lose your temper and lose the argument'. She needs to hide her pregnancy to save the reputation of the tycoon, 'hamare tumhare beech sambhand hoga bandhan nahin.' Freedom and pleasure are jeopardized. They decide to end their relationship. There is also betrayal in the long standing friendship between Jai Bhagwan and Nair the communist politician. A noted reviewer of the book comments 'Burial At Sea seems harried from the beginning and very scattered, lacking direction. The conclusion doesn't fare any better as the tale ends abruptly and unsatisfactorily. It seems like this novel was written in a rush, meant to either quickly satisfy a publisher's contract or to add a boost to the author's bank account'. Even so, the book is a brief enjoyable read through a smooth text of comic irony and erotic examples. It is vintage Khushwant Singh, after the classic two-volume A History of the Sikhs.
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