JOIN USFive- and six-year-olds disappear from a slum in Mumbai. One after another. And return trussed up like meat, in blood-soaked, newspaper-wrapped parcels — raped, mutilated, murdered.
Who would vent such vengeance on innocent creatures? The bungling police posted on the case, "apathetic in action but quick in sympathy", are diverted to another assignment. The case gets increasingly suspicious. It is then that Savio, along with Lalli, takes over the case. The murders get a lot of publicity. The murderer is at large. There’s very little time left with very few cues. Resourceful Lalli turns to the children themselves and invites them to a drawing session. Two pictures stand out.
One of a garishly painted doll, another of a dark night with a bold green light. Both these pictures seem to send out a clear message.
Kalpana Swaminathan’s Greenlight takes off with a bang.
After such a bombastic beginning, the pace of the book slows down, droops and finally gets tangled up in itself like a gawky teenager with long and clumsy limbs.
Three more murders quickly follow — of Daya, a good-natured half-wit; Seema, a journalist; and Sukheta Das, a retired academician. Is there anything at all in common that strings these murders together? The story is told by Sita, whose presence the others value for her raw instinct. She smells and sees things instinctively.
She also feels the faint stirrings of love and realises what a blunder it could be. Her little romantic foray turns out to be a big mistake for her and the book. What was supposed to be a weekend getaway turns awry; she is rid of her possessions and has to work her way home. Narration that only distracts from the main interest.
In a country like India, the divide between the haves and the have-nots is insurmountable. Yet, slums grow back-to-back with posh high-rise buildings. They provide the rich with cheap labour and when work is done, become objects of dangerous play. All because the rich are disconnected from feelings. "I never thought those kids were real. They weren’t from good families," says it all.
A modern thriller exists only because it has a cyber presence. Young minds are highly suggestible, and need guidance. A malevolent internet guru has access to diseased minds and finds it easy to cripple them further. A human mind seems only to need approval from another to stoop to the basest of crimes.
From here onwards, it is a rough gallop over uneven ground. More rapes and murders come to light. Just to make sure that the effect is not lost, some cannibalism is added for good measure. The horror grows inversely proportionate to the story’s credibility.
Lalli is an unlikely heroine. A middle-aged aunt, she has a sharp mind and quick reflexes. She makes for a refreshing change among insipid characters like Salvio, Dr Q and Shukla. It's a one-woman show. The style is fresh, light and breezy.
Kalpana Swaminathan has undoubtedly a talent for writing. But the plot is full of potholes. Bodies are carried in and out of buildings, wrapped in a carpet with no one noticing a thing. A decaying human body, alkali dissolving its skin and bones, goes unsmelt. Incredulous.
A child of five who gets up at midnight on two occasions to use the nalla is unlikely, especially when children are being abducted and murdered. It is more probable that it wets the bed. A deep and original thinker, an inspiring teacher who stays silent and prefers to move to a different city when her daughter is raped and murdered, leaving her son with the murderer, is as likely as a cow on the moon.
The unexpected twists and turns in the story pull and strain the reader’s belief. The book is a damp firecracker sizzling dangerously at first but disappointingly limp in the end.