Close friends of Jolly Somasundram are much relieved that the novel Macbeth Daggers is now, at last, published. This is not for any literary reasons. Usually, quite a free thinker, and accommodative of differences of views, more recently Jolly showed sigs of diminishing tolerance. Expressing views differing from Jolly always brought the response – ‘Adeh, I will put you in my novel’. Rather than suffer that unknown fate of being a character in his book, it was more prudent to agree with Jolly.
The literary credentials of Jolly Somasundram’s book are clear from the fact that the novel was short-listed for the prestigious Gratiaen Award.
If you go to your local book store, you will not find Jolly’s book. Bucking conventional practice, Jolly decided to do the publishing and sales of his book himself. Now this is a pity, and I was reminded of Thomas Gray’s words:
“Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”
To avoid this fate, where Jolly’s book is concerned, I might mention that the book can be obtained at Rs. 750, by phoning the author on his mobile phone – 0777 508513. (In the interests of transparency and full disclosure, of which there seems to be a distinct lack in several spheres, I must state that I am not getting any commission on sales of the book.) The book is also on sale at ICES.
I would put Macbeth Daggers in the category of a roman à clef. That is a novel describing real life, behind a façade of fiction. The 'key' is usually famous figures, a particular period of time, and, in some cases, the author himself. On the first page of the book, the author advises the reader: “Though influenced by a few actual events, Macbeth Daggers is a work of fiction. Individuals, places and events, described in this novel, are from a fictitious country.
They are imaginary. Any resemblance to living persons, except named public figures, is pure coincidence.” But then again, at one point in the book, a character is quoted as saying “A novel is a coded memoire, an autobiographical sub-text…” The reader can make up his own mind, given this variety of interpretations.
The book can be read at several levels. The main story revolves round the career of two public servants Wara (in real life, who is he?) and Aarhus Ratna, also known as jaraa Ratna, (in real life, who is he?) as they make their way up the career ladder in different government departments, and finally vie for the top post of Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Management. And the Minister who had to make the decision was Grat de Koch Wysick (in real life, who is he?). At that point of time Wara heads the Institute of Administrative Higher Education (IAHE), and Aarhus Ratna is a senior official. Aarhus has some advantages, though.
As a young officer he had worked in the Ujjama Land Distribution Agency (ULDA), when the current Prime Minister (Ms. Mandikezela Benazir Sousbonne), then held the post of Director. She was young, and had just returned to the country and had been given this post to cut her teeth on management. Wara, on the other hand, had seniority on his side, and also belonged to the old Imperial Service (Ceylon Civil service). Aarhus Ratna belonged to the Bureaucratic Service (Administrative service).
All tactics, above and below the belt are used in this contest, stooging, bumming and currying favour with political superiors, and even using the ethnic card. And the political superiors who have to decide on such appointments, do not act as superiors should, but show all the frailties of succumbing to pressures of the basest kind. The drama involved could be called the Night of the Long Knives, the weapon of choice in the higher echelons of the public service.
On another level the reader gets a full dose of the ideals of public management, as described in some ancient texts - the Nandiyamrurga Jathaka, the Sigalovadaya, Kautilya’s Arthasastra and what they say about good governance. But this is not a mere academic exercise. Rather it is the author’s way of highlighting what good governance should be, and what we have actually on the ground. For example, in the Nandiyamrurga Jathaka, Nandiya teaches the ten royal qualities of public governance to the ruler of the ancient kingdom of Kosala in India. They are generosity, moral observances, sacrifice of possessions, honesty, gentleness, austerity, non-hatred, non-violence, patience and fidelity to the Constitution. The reader gets the distinct impression that we are nowhere near these standards.
This survey of the classic texts of governance is set in a description of some of the administrative structures in the country, in this period. The Bureaucratic Service (Administrative Service) which replaced the Imperial Service (Civil Service) is described as of “degraded value, a journeyman’s service which never gained the extraordinary social nirvana accorded the Mandarins.” I am sure there will be some who will have a different view. Wara and Ratna come from these two different streams.
Wara loses the contest to Ratna, who is appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Management. One of the handicaps that Wara faced was that he was from “a minority community.” The story touches on the fate of several officers of this “minority community.” There are some revealing comments that the author makes that might help to provide a “key” as to the person Wara. Referring to Wara losing out to Ratna, the author says, “There was also an upside. Every failure had a possible novel embedded in him. Every success? An autobiography! A novel could be Wara’s screeching epitaph, his worm-side view.”
Trying to figure out some of the other characters might not be all that difficult. Finance Minister Prolix, Minister Bernard, Minister Thonda, Foreign Minister Lyksman, Minister Koddy, Minister Mustapa, Junior Minister Athooda etc., and, of course, Prime Minister (Ms. Mandikezela Benazir Sousbonne),
A third level is Wara in retirement. As he finds out, there is life outside active government servitude. The novel is also a story about how a person’s different talents find expression in different circumstances.
After retirement Wara’s latent literary talents flowered. And there are some interesting observations he makes on the life he finds out there. Take one example, the Seshan Prize for creative literary work, and named after an outstanding literary jurist who retired as the country’s Master of the Rolls. The author observes that “Over the years, the selection of the annual winner was becoming incestuous and surreal.” Mentioning that newspapers called one particular award “a prize fix,” the author states “Even Shakespeare’s Hamlet would not have stood a chance in this selection!”
It seems to be open season for NGOs these days. And the author makes some critical (to put it mildly) comments on Feminists and the International NGO set (as he calls it).
The author also makes some critical observations about some who had retired from public service (‘a knackered group’), during which period “they followed a Venus de Milo policy of hands-off from controversial decisions,” but now have formed NGO groups, and are seeking to “ensure good governance in the departments they had vacated.” There are other institutions that are the target of the author’s ire.
Coming to style, the epigrammatic and punny descriptions the author uses, makes for incisive analysis of the subjects he is dealing with. (On the lack of political leadership – ‘It is the bland leading the deaf and bland.’ The campaign against Wara, on ethnic grounds, being conducted through ‘Chinese whispers and insinuendos.’) One particular metaphor sticks in my mind: “He was so dog-tired that he took naps while he was sleeping. Talking of the habit of politicians and public officers manhandling the ‘truth’, the author observes “Pure truth, like pure gold, is of little value. Public managers argued that truth, like gold, needed to be adulterated, if either was to serve a social purpose.” Talking of politicians in the opposition, he likens them to “eunuchs moralising about their chastity.” Of ministerial cabinets, he says they are like “Old MacDonald’s farm, a minister here and a minister there, everywhere a minister, minister.” There is an abundance of such characterizations in the book.
Trying to figure out who, in real life, is Wara? Ratna? Minister Grat de Koch Wysick? Prime Minister Sousbonne? keeps one transfixed while one savours the striking epigrammatic language. The book appeals to the reader at many levels. |
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