Vishnu, a drunken bum is dying in the stairwell of a Bombay apartment complex. On the first floor of that building, two petty housewives, Mrs. Asrani and Mrs. Pathak quarrel, each trying to palm off the responsibility of caring for Vishnu. Their husbands secretly conspire to split the ‘burden’ of the cost of an ambulance to cart Vishnu to a hospital.

Meanwhile Vishnu, oblivious to his surroundings is lost in his fantasies, of Padmini, a woman he made love to in a brothel. Images of his childhood and from Hindu mythology also show up in his dreams. Could he indeed ‘be’ the same Vishnu he was named after, the guardian of the universe? The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri is a black comedy on the petty side of human nature.

Manil Suri lucidly portrays the two warring women of 1st the floor in vivid details. He presents a picture of Mrs Asrani dyeing her hair, after spreading pages of the Times of India around the room and of Mrs. Pathak,her customary kitty parties with their colorful guests.

In the second floor of the same building reside the Jalals a Muslim family. Their son Salim is carrying on a illicit relationship with Kavita, the daughter of the Asranis. Mr. Jalal, an eccentric is on a search for enlightenment. His efforts of researching religion, the rigors of religious austerities and suffering have yielded little results. He is fascinated by Vishnu who he suspects may have reached this destination. Mrs. Jalal, concerned by her husband’s strange behavior turns to exorcism to drive out the evil spirits that haunt him.

Other characters like maids Tall and Short Ganga, Cigarettewalla, RadioWalla and Paanwalla drift in an out of the tale of Vishnu. There is also Mr. Vinod Taneja a widower who resides on the top floor of the same building. In an effort to reconcile with the loss of his beloved Sheetal, Vinod tries to plunge into work, social service and religion.

As the teenage couple Salim and Kavita elope, they cause on unexpected turn of events that will put almost everyone in the housing complex on edge. Both Vishnus, the divine and the drunk pervade the lives of all the families in this building.

For immigrants, this book can trigger off memories of Iranian tea stalls, of sweet Gluco biscuits that come wrapped in wax paper, of Odomos mosquito repellants, Glycodin cough syrups, the Vividh Bharati radio station and old Hindi movies. People familiar with Mumbai will feel pangs of nostalgia as Suri artfully places several Mumbai locales in his story. This novel is an enjoyable read and an outstanding debut by Manil Suri, a professor at UMBC, University of Maryland Baltimore County.

|