Book review: 'Adrift'

Book: Adrift
Author: V Sudarshan
Publisher: Hachette India
Pages: 173
Price: Rs399

What would you do if you were stuck at sea, with no food or water and at the mercy of the elements? Would that push you to reach out to the bottom of your dinghy and eat the barnacles there? The characters in Adrift did. The book-based on a real-life incident, tells the story of a diving trip gone wrong. There are five characters — the leader of the dive trip, Commander Baath, his guests Bruno Beauregard and Camille Pascal, his staff Rama Rao and Rama Rao Jr and Himanshu Mallik who spend a week adrift in the Andaman Sea. Adrift is V Sudarshan's second book.

How did you come across this story?
I heard the story in a coffee shop from a person who was known to the Commander and me. I was hooked and decided to go to the source.

What made you decide to turn this incident into a book?
Such a story would have given a paragraph in the paper. I found the story very interesting. As it turns out, you have a very heroic character in this commander — he keeps the crew together and floating. The story tells you how normal people can be heroes. I thought it was a positive and a good story.

Your narrative follows an unusual pattern. You start with the present and also give a back story. Why?
The structure is circular. You enter at a highpoint in the narrative, you get some background information and then return to the present. By the time you are at the end, you know everything you need to know about the situation and characters. Also, many of the back stories are interesting and  bring out the the characters very well.

Who is the strongest of the characters?
Commander Baath. I believe the five of them wouldn't have survived if he wasn't there.

You've written the entire incident in the simple present tense. Why so?
It brings a great degree of immediacy to the scene. It brings the drama out quite well. The story has been kept to the bare minimum. It doesn't get soppy, sentimental or overwritten. It's a good way of keeping focus on the main incident.

Excerpted from Adrift by V Sudarshan with permission from Hachette India

Badmash machchi aa jayega, Rama Rao Sr is telling Baath. The sharks will come. He is clinging on to the rope next to Baath and looks worried.

Aa to sakta hai. Kyon nahin aa sakta hai? Baath responds carefully. He can see where this is going.

Of course a shark can come. Why can’t it come? Himanshu is listening to the conversation now. Aayega toh hamein kha jayega, Rama Rao goes on. He thinks it is logical that if a shark swims up to them it will proceed to eat one of them. Mujhe toh nahin lagta, says Baath confidently. I don’t think it follows that if a shark comes up it will eat us. Aa jayega sahib, Rama Rao Sr says, Aur hamein zinda kha jayega. They’ll come, they’ll come and eat us alive.

Mujhe nahin lagta hai ki aisa hoga, says Baath. He knows that being in the water for hours is making them anxious. Occasionally they go back to the boat but come back again into the water when they begin to sweat. Rama Rao went to the boat and came back. Bruno keeps going back to the boat whenever he starts getting worried about reverse osmosis.

But Rama Rao is adamant. Hum boat mein ja rahein hain, he asserts and climbs on to the boat. Half an hour later, he is back in the water. He is sweating all over. Baath climbs back on to the boat. He looks for the chewing gum he had stuck on to the side of the plank near Rama Rao. He cannot find it. Arre mera chewing gum kahan gaya? He shouts. Where has my chewing gum gone?

Rama Rao Sr shouts back. Hum chaba rahein hain. I am chewing on it. Magar woh to mera chewing gum hai! But that is my chewing gum! Ab meri bari hai sahib. It is my turn now to chew on it. Bhook lag rahi hai. I am feeling hungry.
Theek hai, chabao. Magar usko math khana. Bacha ke rakhna. Okay chew it, but save it for later. Don’t throw it away.

After three hours in the water, Himanshu feels thirsty. He clambers on back to the dinghy and looks for the water he has saved. He cannot find the bottle. He is puzzled. He looks around to see if it has rolled away because of the motion of the boat. Himanshu knows this is not possible since the dinghy has been still and the sea flat and calm. He thinks maybe hunger is playing tricks on his mind and that he has kept the bottle somewhere and has forgotten it. He begins to search the boat. Baath looks at Himanshu rummaging around and asks, What has happened to you? Come down into the water. Sir I cannot find the bottle in which I had kept my water. I am looking for it. It will be in the boat.

Himanshu finally finds it near the tiller. It is empty. He picks it up and shakes it to see if there is any drop left. It is empty; he checks the cap, it is screwed on tight. As he looks at the empty bottle, Himanshu feels an anger rising within him. Mera paani kisne piya? he asks loudly. Who drank my water? Nobody replies.

What is the problem? Camille asks. Somebody has drunk his quota of water, Baath informs her.

Humne piya, Rama Rao Jr finally says. Kyon piya? Himanshu asks. He is furious now. Pyas laga, pi liya, explains Rama Rao Jr. I felt thirsty, so I drank.

Magar woh pani mera tha. Maloom nahin tha kya? But that water was meant for me. Didn’t you know? Paani par naam toh nahin likha tha. The water did not have your name written on it.