Of Scribes n Scoundrels

Hey! I’m back and I’m trying to be a little less pompous this time around. I won’t go, “I’ve been published…….” Sounds too self centered and bloated no? Yeah, I felt that too.

So. I’ll just post the article as it is and provide a link to the article at the foot of the article. I’ll let the work take prominence rather than the ‘artist’…hehe! I’ll post them under the “Newspaper Articles” category so we know the what and the where.

Beyond The Newsroom by Oswald Pereira

To use a journalists’ cliché, this book is a ’scoop’; the ‘real’ deal about the unholy nexus between the Underworld, the government and the Fourth Estate. This is a fast-paced, no nonsense novel explaining in surprising detail, the intertwined fellowship between the system and the ‘unsystematic’ underworld. It comes as no surprise that the novel is by an accomplished crime reporter himself. The short, to the point chapters keep you engrossed without trying to glorify characters or creating a larger than life image about the underhand play of today’s System.

The novel starts off in 1986 with a brief about the central character, Oscar Pinto, a typical reporter perennially looking for that ‘one big story’ which will change his short-changed life. Gradually, the antagonist, Narayan Swamy, a white dhoti clad, god-fearing, Mafia don is introduced, leading one to believe that the novel might just be taking off from where Mario Puzo left us. However, the story has a strong handle which the author exercises with an iron hand, making sure that the story is original, gritty and succinct. A trademark of a journalist turned author is his use of journalism lingo which is generously smattered in his novel, and Oswald employs this technique with a deft hand. All this in no way implies that the story is not fascinating. On the contrary, the story is extremely gripping what with its real characters and their ‘common man’ syndromes.

The reader never needs to remember a vivid background about a character though – because there isn’t any. The novel tells the reader what he needs to know and interestingly so. A short book, it beautifully explores the various minutiae of Mumbai’s dreaded underbelly. Right from the hooch dealers in the largest slum of Asia, Dharavi to the ghastly brothels of Falkland Road, the author manages to convey the gangland’s dastardly deeds without offending the reader’s sensibilities. It beautifully enunciates the multifaceted working of a News house and the typical rapport shared between the scribes and the police as also the scribes and the mafia.

The novel is interesting without being over the top. The story is hard hitting without being in your face. A very good read and as the clan of journos would say –This is learnt from ‘highly reliable sources’!