HUSH A BYE BABY
Deepanjana Pal’s Hush a Bye Baby is a remarkable debut novel that stands in stark contrast to the recent crop of Indian crime fiction. It is not so much of a whodunit as a how and why. Though the book has its flaws, the plot is wellstructured. Pal cleverly changes gears so that her characters are believable but never predictable.
Dr Nandita Rai, a celebrity gynaecologist in Mumbai, runs Hope Fertility Clinic with her assistant, Suman Sengupta. Rai is a hardcore feminist and radio personality who doesn’t hesitate to cut chauvinistic men down to size in public.
So officers staffing the Mumbai police helpline are stunned when one of Rai’s patients—Seema Punjabi—registers a case of attempted female foeticide against her. That is when the police notice that there have also been other anonymous calls accusing the doctor of sex-selective abortions. Inspector Manohar Hadpude of CAW (Crimes Against Women) is put in charge of the investigation along with his two assistants—Lad (a lackadaisical, willing-to-be-corrupted, yet astute sub-inspector) and his counterpart Reshma Gabuji, a young recruit from a wealthy background, out to prove herself to the world.
Rai is not arrested but taken away for ‘questioning’ by the police, who keep her in a guest house, away from her family, for several days. She is married to a well-known real estate magnate, Naveen Rai, who is influential enough to have friends like the police commissioner. The commissioner, on his part, does his best to pressure Hadpude into dismissing the case. However, it’s Reshma who takes chances, breaks rules, follows her instincts and finally sniffs out the solution to the crime even when her seniors keep brushing her away. The fast-paced story has a constant sense of urgency. However, the end is abrupt, confusing and anticlimactic. Many questions hang in the air, unanswered.