THE RETURN OF ARJUN ARORA
Ankush Saikia’s private detective gets the better of the Delhi police and fights his demons in the north east
Ankush Saikia’s More Bodies Will Fall sat on my desk untouched for a long time. I would stare at the ugly cover and remember Jhumpa Lahiri’s remark in The Clothing of Books that book jackets make or break a book. However, when I did pick up Saikia, I couldn’t put it down. More Bodies Will Fall is the third in the Arjun Arora mysteries, and journalist-turned-writer Saikia shines as a master writer in this genre. Saikia, an insider in the northeast, simplifies a political plot, and the subtext is a subtle social commentary on the Us vs Them divide; the divide between the “Indians” and those from the north east, exposing every crass stereotype that both sides hold.
A Naga girl is killed in Delhi. There’s been no headway in the case even after a year. Her influential father decides to hire a private detective. Arjun Arora takes up the case, albeit reluctantly, as the investigations are likely to lead him to the north east, where his past lies buried. Arora is a middle-aged detective who has quit the army, his marriage has ended, and he is struggling to make a mark with his puny detective agency. Arora is flawed and it is his imperfections that draw the reader to him. The ex-boyfriend of the murdered girl, Amenla Longkumer, is briefly held and let off by the Delhi Police. The boy had an alibi and besides, Amenla’s character is suspect as she is from the northeast and it is therefore assumed that she would have had “many boyfriends”. As for Amenla’s father, the aged Mr Longkumer, he is not ruling out the involvement of an “Indian boy”. A call centre employee, Amenla liked order and kept her single-room accommodation tidy – arranging everything from little shampoo bottles to credit cards, even the expired ones, to crisp bundles of currency notes – neatly. What did bother her was a large black suitcase which wasn’t hers. The suitcase holds the clue to her murder. It is not an easy case. It has been a year since her murder and Arora has to deal with the deadly Delhi Police. His interaction with the cops is both funny and sad. “So you’re a detective? (Investigating Officer Kapil) Sharma asked with noticeable sarcasm”. Arora has to brag about the cases he has solved and drop names before the murder files are shared with him.
With Arora on his feet, the readers begin to see things which the Delhi Police didn’t or didn’t want to. He meets almost all the people Amenla knew in Delhi, but the leads eventually take him to the north east. Saikia is at his best here. Chain-smoking Arora confronts a near-death scenario and the ugly-sweet memories of his past life as an army officer. The plot is convincing, and it’s easy to connect with the characters – especially Arora, an insider in the north east by virtue of growing up there, but who will always be seen as an outsider, and, also Amenla’s father, Mr Longkumer, who plays an important role in tribal politics, and will not allow his daughter to date a Kuki boy.
The low point are the unnecessary details as Arora rides through the concrete jungles of Delhi: “Going up KG Marg, he swept around Connaught Circus before exiting past Regal Cinema... Just for this the thriller can double up as a touristy guide! Still, Saikia keeps his stories real. More Bodies Will Fall is based on a huge cache of methamphetamine tablets seized in Manipur . He has kept up his game since he started his series with Dead Meat based on the Tandoor murder case followed up with Remember Death. Ankush Saikia’s work has raised the bar for Indian noir. If only his publishers would match it up with a fitting book jacket.