The Strike

When I chanced upon The Strike by Anand Mahadevan, I had not heard about the author before, though flipping through the first few pages, I realized that the book has great literary appeal. As a collection of the author's childhood memoirs and the depiction of the one way journey from childhood to adulthood through adolescence, this is Mahadevan’s first novel.

The author currently lives in Toronto, Canada. Actually, The Strike was inspired by Mahadevan's experience of a train siege while he along with his parents and brother were traveling in a train which was stopped at Ennore station on Christmas Eve in 1987.

In this story, the author narrates his experiences through a 12 year Brahmin boy called Hari. The book is set in Southern India of the 1980's, and explores Tamil politics along with the intricacies and complexities of society through a growing boy's eyes.

I essentially enjoyed the portrayal of the characters like Vishu, Mukund, family maid Sivagami, and Radha the eunuch. His narratives about eating fish, the death of his grand mother, his innocent preference of Hindi over his mother tongue Tamil, and the episodes relating to M.G.R. – the veteran Tamil film scion and politician. The novel also describes Hari's uncomfortable encounter with eroticism and sexual discovery.

On the whole, the novel is enjoyable and light-hearted. However, there is a distinct sombreness in the novel as it explores the seemingly adult world of complex societal interactions, tumultuous regional politics and diverse cultural differences through the eyes of a growing up adolescent.

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