Years ago, while on the drive to Poona, we were
playing our favourite game: spotting ‘Truck Graffiti’. ‘Horn – Okay – Please’ was
a common rear-end request but, occasionally, one would come across a gem like
this one: God spare me from the clutches of a doctor, a lawyer and a scheming
woman. Being a woman, I would change
that last to ‘a scheming man’. And who
wants to invite ill-health? But lawyer? You would have to experience an
encounter to relate to that one!
When Mumbai
Mirror published an extract from Aarushi by Avirook Sen (Penguin), I
read through it avidly – I’ll admit to the voyeur in me. But it was more than that. It was a tragedy that had unfolded in real time with
no sense of closure, even though a conviction was reached - too many questions,
too many ‘whys?’, too many loose ends. I
picked up the book during a lunch break and delved into it post dinner. I didn’t stop till the last page was turned.
Gripping narrative? No! But it was a fluid read
through a journalist’s meticulously reported journey through the case. Objective for the most part, it is not
entirely dispassionate. But comment, inference and opinion are supported by
illustrative and damning fact. Take the text of the judgement, for example: “The
cynosure of judicial determination is the fluctuating fortunes of the….who have
been arraigned for committing and secreting as also deracinating the evidence
of commission of the murder of their own
adolescent daughter – a beaut damsel…”. There is more! The judge in question is
apparently in the habit of reiterating, “I have command in English.” This was one
of the lighter moments.
For the most part, the book takes us through the
very sordid environment that is the Indian legal and law and order system, no
holds barred. The scarred and the inured would probably retort, ‘So what’s new?’
There is, on the other hand, a new and rising generation who could make a
difference, even if it is one person at a time. Which is why I make this my fervent recommendation: every college of
every university in India should make this book compulsory reading. This is no work of fiction. It is pure fact.
The book closes at the end of yet another ‘ordinary’
day. For Aarushi, the rays of dawn are forever
an altered reality. And I fervently paraphrase that driver’s prayer – from the
clutches of the law, O God, spare me!
