Review: ''Pyramid of Virgin Dreams,' a refreshing attempt

Kartikeya Kukreja was an officer from the Indian Administrative Service, popularly known as the IAS and described as a premier service by those who were not part of it. For those like Kartikeya, who lingered on inch-by-inch towards their respective levels of ineptitude, it might not have seemed as magnificent.' This is how the protagonist, Kartikeya, the son of a self-made Punjab civil servant, is introduced in the novel Pyramid of Virgin Dreams by Vipul Mittra.

This is Vipul Mittra's first attempt at exploring the art form of novel. It is another addition to the Indian English literature which is now, surprisingly, 190 years old! In its long vicissitudes, this literature has faced many highs and lows including the constant battle with credibility for being a literature in a language that is spoken by a tiny minority.

During the last 20 years, Mittra's own chosen form of novel in Indian English has been described as 'all autobiography and boasting'. The conscience of the world literature, VS Naipaul has said that 'what is known best about Indian writers and books are advances and their prizes. There is little discussion about the substance of a book.'

In this context, Mittra's effort at the novel needs to be praised first of all because there are no 'dadajees' or 'dadijees' ot 'mamajees' or 'chachajees' and 'nanijees' in this novel which is the usual background of  all Indian expatriate writing that is talked about in the West. Mittra's's book is written for the Indian reader with frank sincerity. There is no 'tourist art' quality here!

Happily addressing the Indian reader, the novel moves with energy of an athlete and zeal of a bureaucrat through the landscapes of state capitals, taluka head quarters, bizarre politicians and equally bizarre offices, thuggish civil servants and sordid urban settings. It is a journey of a middle-class Punjabi boy through post-garibi hatao India on his way to becoming a civil servant and after.

It is also a novel of the loss of innocence as Kukreja's corruption starts even before starting the service.

The novel is crowded with many government officers, especially the middle-level ones, one of whom is Joshi 'who is too thin to be called a supply inspector and looked more emaciated than the children at Mid Day meal centers.

And there is humour in the novel too: '(Kukreja's children) Chirag and Roshni rolled on to the front seat of the car, continuing with their sputter and tattle. Almost customarily, they pulled at the driver's white hat as though his hat was the car-starter that was necessary to be pulled for igniting the engine. "Behave yourself kids. Chandu is no more our driver, He is Sharma uncle's driver now, scolded the mother of the children". Mittra is refreshingly without political clap trap, but one hopes that his next novel will have more substance than mere style.