Choosing serenity over cynicism

An amiable read. Those were the first words that came to my mind when I reached the last pages of Upamanyu Chatterjee’s latest novel, Lorenzo Searches of the Meaning of Life. There are no dramatic lows and highs in this book, no whiplash melodrama, no gory violence beyond that which the characters read about in newspapers or hear of on the radio. Deaths, births, marriages and more occur but are treated with equanimity for the most part and the occasional spurt of acidic wit.

This book is a long way off from Chatterjee’s first novel, English, August, the work that heralded his arrival on the Indian literary firmament as a once-in-a-generation talent. Although, on the surface, both English, August and Lorenzo Searches For The Meaning Of Life have a similarity in terms of plot — two young men embark on journeys of self-discovery by moving to remote parts of the world to pursue their vocation — Chatterjee’s approach in narrating the stories couldn’t be more different. Where English, August gleefully poked holes in the genteel aura surrounding the figure of the IAS officer in pre-liberalisation India in prose that married the high brow and the low, this new book takes a more circumspect view of the process of adulting and scatological references are kept to the bare minimum. Chalk it up to the passing of time — Chatterjee is now 65 and clearly no longer feels the need to knife sacred cows to make his voice heard.

The Lorenzo of Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life is based on, as Chatterjee says in the note at the start, a friend of his. We first meet Lorenzo in December 1980 when he is 19 years old and living in Aquilina, a village on the outskirts of Trieste near the Adriatic in Italy. He tells his parents he’s going to visit Padua with his friends, gets into his little car and drives off. It soon becomes apparent that Lorenzo has lied to his parents and he’s not going to Padua but is instead going to spend time at the Praglia Abbey.

Curious backstory

Over several pages, more of the curious backstory and motivations of this young man are revealed — who on earth in the late 20th century would opt to become a Benedictine monk? In a conversation with a Mother Abbess, Lorenzo, who’s in his final year of a physiotherapy course, is asked if it’s his experiences in the hospital that have led him to this spiritual calling:

“…you must often sense, when you are dealing with the mortally ill and their fear of dying, you must feel the futility of struggle, the despair, the hopelessness of it… And so your interest in religion in the after-hours, in the life of the spirit, you find that it calms you, helps you cope? Or does it on the other hand agitate you, prod you, to search for purpose?”

Lorenzo answers that it’s the layers of religious ritual that have obscured the idea of the divine. He worries about the appropriateness of his answer — but Mother Abbess’s appreciation for his search, and his desire to find ballast in an uncertain world and time pave the way for Lorenzo’s eventual acceptance into monastic life. His family are puzzled and doesn’t understand it, least of all his mother who takes exception to losing her son to the Benedictines. While she can’t stop him, she hopes, she says, to see him again before she dies. From thereon, time slows as the monastic life takes over Lorenzo’s days. It takes years before another significant change comes upon him when a chance meeting with a fellow monk, Luca, who lives in Bangladesh, inspires Lorenzo to also move to that country. As with all things monastic, it’s not an immediate departure but one done with careful preparation.

Lurking restlessness

Once he’s in Bangladesh in the early 1990s, Lorenzo adapts without complaint to the harsh and sparse environment in which the monastery (or the ashram as it’s called there) has been built. Luca teaches Lorenzo Bengali and they go about their religious duties. Time passes. Friendships and close collegial bonds are established with those in the surrounding communities. But still, there’s a lurking restlessness beneath Lorenzo’s placid exterior that once again spurs him to take another momentous decision and further alter the course of his life. It’s rare to witness a soul’s spiritual awakening and renewal through modern fiction — so much of religious belief is seen as suspect in these times that Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life stands out in its sincere appreciation of the struggles of its protagonist. There’s no contempt here, no cynicism. As Chatterjee says in the final lines of the book, “Everything is sacred” and it’s clear he’s held that belief close when writing this quietly remarkable book.