THE STRANGE BOOK OF RAJESH PARAMESHWARAN: I AM AN EXECUTIONER

THE STRANGE BOOK OF RAJESH PARAMESHWARAN: I AM AN EXECUTIONER

       Hunting for a good title for this presentation was not easy. In fact I have to give credits to Mr. Rajesh Parameshwaran itself, for the title since it is inspired from one of the short stories in this book, The Strange Career of Dr. Raju Gopalrajan. The whole book is just bizarre like the  plot of that story and its titular character. But in a good way ! Cover Blurb by Manil Suri that says " Stories that are savagely funny, stories that haunt and sear and stun, stories so original they defy categorization" does the most justice. Through this presentation I intend to analyze these peculiar collection of love stories.

       I Am An Executioner consists of nine stories in total, each unique in its narration, characters and events. Each narrator holds a job that is very intriguing except one; the Bengal tiger. We have a fake doctor, a station master, an executioner, a lab technician, a spy, a production designer and an alien job of dead body displayer. Even conflict arises whether the narrator of the story Elephants in Captivity (Part One) is Shanti the elephant or the "attention seeking Englaphant speaking editor".  Don't let the subtitle fool you! These are not usual love stories where boy meets a girl and in-laws create a ruckus. These stories cover apart from heterosexual relationships; homosexual relationships, bestiality and even human - alien relationships.

       The first story The Infamous Bengal Ming is about a Bengal tiger who gets jilted by his eternal fancy; tigress Saskia. Villain of his life is the tiger called Maharaj who has all the attention of the lady. But one fine Wednesday morning, Bengal Tiger realises that he loves his keeper Kitch. It was when the tiger was just a cub, he first noticed Kitch through their mutual fear and vigilance.

" And that Wednesday I had woken and realised: Kitch. Kitch ! I love Kitch. Realising I loved Kitch was like realizing that a bone you have enjoyed chewing for months is actually the bone of your worst enemy." (4)

       The Tiger do admit that it was a negative example but all he wanted was to convey his "whole new perspective" (4). Now, Tiger doesn't want us to misunderstand this love. It's not a passionate love like that he has for Saskia ; it is a curiosity and comfort driven love.  Mutual interest is apparently "love" for this Tiger.

"Once I realised I loved Kitch, everything else in the world seemed to make so much perfect indescribable nonsensical sense" (5) This reminds one about the dialogue Aamir Khan's character says to Kareena Kapoor's character in 3 Idiots movie. So, final conclusion of Tiger is that every horrible events he faced was to reach such a happy resolution. Too bad the story doesn't end there. The plot sets off to become a chain reaction when Tiger goes hungry, gets into a fight with Maharaj, get humilited in front of a bunch of school kids and his proclamation of love ends up killing Kitch. To make things much more worse Tiger escapes the zoo. As a reader, Tiger's narration doesn't allow us to blame his actions. Everything the tiger does to help ends up in disaster, like a clumsy person trying to handle glassware. In this case when Tiger tries to act like a human, he ends up killing everybody. Can we blame him? Not to give away any spoilers, let's just say the story doesn't end well for anyone.

       The Strange Career of Dr. Raju Gopalrajan didn't surprise me much in plot but it did at the ending. It is very common in India where many people fake identities and become "doctors". They may not even be well equipped to sew a torn piece of cloth but they handle human life like a child play. "Dr. Raju Gopalrajan"/ Gopi Kumar takes his game to the next level by becoming a fake doctor in America. His wife Manju, a secretary in an insurance company is a more interesting character. Just when Raju's second surgery in Vincente's (a Mexican worker) arm ends like a bad episode of  Grey's Anatomy TV series, Manju comes in as his next client. Ending of the story sets our imagination running wild.

       Four Rajeshes, is one of the most confusing story in this collection according to my brain. The story is about Rombachinnapattinam's station master P. Rajarajeshwaran Iyer, his "helper" Dhananjayan Rajesupriyan, and his new appointed secretary "R." We can guess this R could be some etymological derivation of the name "Rajesh". Note that our author's name is Rajesh Parameshwaran as well. One may think whether this author holds any grudge towards western audience while reading the names of his characters. R.I, D.R and R. is the best way to address them. By the way, Rombachinnapattinam literally means in Tamil- little town.  The plot takes a turn when the newly appointed secretary R. starts to scribble out- of- the- world markings in his letters to the superiors. Speculations fly as many tried to decipher it. One said it was Sanskrit, other said it was Bengali, some other said it was Vandal. The only thing that gets R.I angry is this scribblings and someone questioning is ability to love. As a reader, we feel his ability to love D.R and R. is so overwhelming that we feel bad for his new wife. Twist of the story is when R.I reads a newspaper clipping that says Rogerson, a scholar of Indian extraction at the University of Harvard "solves a long standing Mathematical Puzzle" (75). After reading this story we may not even dare to stop a child scribbling on our home's wall.

                                            I Am An Executioner describes a story filled with characters that tread the fine line between good and evil. " A life of truth is its own reward" (79) is often  repeated in the short story to emphasise how one's choice and attitude shape one's life. But what is the actual truth? Who is the victim here ? The small girl who gets hanged? Executioner's wife who gets turned on by the stories about death? The executioner who constantly reassures himself that he is a nice man? or the warden who is fickle minded?

All the characters have a dark side. Executioner's wife knows the power play and how to get her husband to act according to her whims and fancies by denying him sex. The executioner takes a smug satisfaction, by playing a game of telling all criminals a secret just before they are hanged. He enjoys when he knows that the secret is well guarded always.  Often as a reader, I felt that the Executioner, by his narrative style and perverted thoughts; was so annoying that he should also be hanged. His thoughts reveal how deep inside lies a child and wife molester. It is to be noted that he got married by false pretences via internet. The only truth that is displayed to the public are through the dead body of criminals. The one who did the crime shall be punished (the ones who undergo the trials); but what about the potential criminals lurking in the dark corner of our minds? Constantly saying to oneself that one is not guilty makes you innocent in front of your conscience but it may not be the truth at all in reality.

The short story Demons disappointed me somewhat when actually it was the most appreciated story line. May be my disappointment was because it lacked the bizarre nature with which Rajesh Parameshwaran handled other stories. This is somewhat an ordinary incident with a strange cause. The scene where the main character Savitri cooks and later talks to her neighbour Doug Naples calmly, while her husband is lying dead on the living room floor in a twisted and contorted manner, can ignite various plotlines. But instead Rajesh Parameshwaran approaches it in a different way. As one of the Eminem track title suggests... Be careful what you wish for ! My wish is to successfully pull off this entire analysis of his work. Hope the small demons around in the air mutter "Asthu, asthu. Make it so. " (115)

                                            Narrative of Agent 97- 4702 can make you feel spy work is not cool anymore. The story is in the form of a report with a tone of apology redacted at many places describing a day in our agent's life.  Our agent doesn't operate the "James Bond" way. Instead she sits around and does a surveillance in front of subject 243-66328 's house that too during early mornings. She doesn't know what is she looking for and why is she looking at the subject. Her orders are clear and her job is well structured.  Her household situation with her husband [J] reminds us about the "Mr and Mrs Smith" movie. Our agent gets into trouble when her friend and superior Agent S shows her the files on 243-66328 and says "This whole room is dedictaed to 243-66328". (145) "We have a room like this on everyone in the City"." We are filling a room like this on you". (146)

                                            Bibhuthibhushan Mallik's Final Storyboard is like an Indian version of Michael Keaton's Birdman movie. The author takes us through the messy environment of life and relationships in the world of cinema. The story consists of an art house director Jogesh Sen who uses Mr. Mallik's friendship and talent to gain success. Mr. Sen gets into an affair with a young actress and Mr. Mallik falls in love with Mr. Sen's wife Nirmala. All the main characters are old people who should be well settled in their life by this time, but instead indulge themselves in the world of affairs, secrecy, jealousy and dreams. At a very late stage Mr. Mallik decides to make a movie in the west to gain enough fame and money to save Nirmala from Mr. Sen. The story says to its readers: sometimes life doesn't work out the way we plan it.

                                            Elephants in Captivity is one of the most difficult and disturbing piece of story to read in this book. But the very effort a reader has to make to get through Rajesh Parameshwaran's plot makes this book worth reading. This story starts with the narration of Shanti the elephant who escapes captivity to "sit down and write " her story in the middle of a field. Unluckily the human editor she chose for her story seems like an attention seeking drama queen. His eagerness to share his own past with elephants becomes so intrusive that Shanti's narration sometimes drown in his footnotes. In pages like193 and 194, the entire page is filled with foot notes with no head ! The editor is indeed a creative fellow when he crafts dialogues for elephants but he confuses readers with extra bits of information that is relevant yet disturbing. The whole narration is based on the famous phrase "Elephants never forget"(189). Strangely our narrator Shanti remembers events before her birth but forgets some events after she was born. Our Editor clearly doesn't like Shanti's approach towards the whole narration. Rajesh Parameshwaran has skilfully crafted the life of elephants and the display of their emotions. Story does pose an interesting question. Do animals commit suicide? Though editor writes that "Elephants don't enjoy those simple Freudian - type luxuries humans take for granted: aphasia, repression, sublimation, omission." ( 190) Elephants and Tigers of Rajesh Parameshwaran draw similarities between animal and human behaviour.

                                            The last story On the Banks of Table River (Planet Lucina, Andromeda Galaxy, AD 2319)  describes the story of alien and human being interaction where human beings become a part of an alien life. There is xenophobia but also mutual fascination. Thoren, who is a dead body displayer and a father struggles to cope up with the rebel life of his daughter Nippima. Nippima is ashamed of her ancestral work and fascinated with human lifestyle. Thoren also narrates the birth of Nippima which is Alien Vs Predator film scary that make us feel divorce and lawsuits, a better option. Story conveys the message that in whatever trouble you are in; your family will always come for your aid.

                                            This book is one of the most interesting books I have come across that blends love, family, crime, science fiction and nature. By bringing together various elements under one roof Rajesh Parameshwaran constantly teases our brains and leaves us craving for more. It is a fun read from an Indian author that engages our thoughts for weeks even after finishing the book weeks back.

Citation

·        Parameshwaran, Rajesh. I Am An Executioner. London: Bloomsbury. 2012. Print.

·        "Rajesh Parameshwaran." Bloomsbury Publishing, 3 June 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomsbury.com%2Fauthor%2Frajesh-parameswaran>.