At its very heart, the novel is essentially a crime thriller. The notorious gangster, Ganesh Gaitonde, is found dead in what-could-be a nuclear shelter in a Mumbai suburb. Sartaj Singh, of the Mumbai police, is the inspector who finds him. The story then follows 2 prinicipal arcs - Sartaj's investigation into Gaitonde's mysterious death. and Gaitonde's narration of his own meteoric rise to become the most wanted gangster in India!
Sartaj Singh is an ordinary policeman - battling his own personal demons of despair and disillusionment, he sets out every day to bring criminals to justice. Practical enough to understand that bribes and give-and-takes are necessary evils of the system, he is simply a man trying to do the best with what he has been given. His sheer doggedness and perseverance make him a good policeman, but it is his personal relationships that fully define him - be it his indomitable mother, his partner Katekar, or his slowly budding romance with Mary!
Gaitonde, on the other hand, is a flamboyant, larger than life character. He bursts onto the Mumbai crime scene with a spectacular heist, and slowly but surely carves out his empire, taking on the might of the Suleiman Isa cartel. Starting with his stronghold in Gopalmath, and then from the idyllic locales of Thailand and Indonesia - he runs his nefarious organization, going from strength to strength. And yet, Ganesh Gaitonde is anything but an one-dimensional gangster - he is a man riddled with insecurity, struggling with betrayal and paranoia, while trying to present the facade of a confident 'bhai' to his 'boys'!
Chandra has done a remarkable job with his dramatis personae - each character is sharply etched and fleshed out. Even the minor characters - Shalini Katekar and her family, bar owner Shambhu, the Pandeys, the Khan family, Mr. Yadav, even Dr. Anaita - are all living, breathing, flawed people who jump off the pages and draw you into their lives. Sartaj's mother, Nikki, and her memories have a palpable nostalgia, and Shalini's grit and determination to make a better life for her sons strikes a deeply empathetic chord. Mr. Yadav and Anjali are imbued with a steely patriotism, defending their country - even if it means getting their hands dirty, and the Pandeys exemplify the self-indulgent lives of the privileged! The dregs of society, and the do-gooders and all those in-between - they are all present here!
Mumbai forms a sultry, shimmering backdrop to the dramatic unfolding of the story. Backdrop? I take that back - Mumbai definitely takes top-billing here! The daily grind of millions struggling to survive, the sprawling slums, the immaculate high-rises, the heat and dust and traffic - this is the Mumbai we know, the Mumbai we pretend not to see! Mumbai of Bollywood hopefuls, who throng to the city with dreams of making it big, Mumbai of illegal immigrants searching for their fragment of heaven. Mumbai - the financial pulse of the nation, where debilitating poverty lives cheek by jowl with immense fortunes! The city comes to life with vivid detail, and eventually, all the threads of the story converge convincingly in this fascinating city.
The scope of the book is colossal - from the horrors of the Partition, to the 1993 Mumbai bomb-blasts - from the 9/11 attacks to the looming specter of a nuclear explosion in the heart of the sub-continent - Chandra takes us on a unforgettable ride! The invisible but very real connections between the politicians and the underworld, the unsavory face of the flashy film industry and the numerous beauty pageants, the religious leaders who cloak their sectarian, fanatical selves with profoundly spiritual discourses - they are all woven into this riveting tale.
And again, at its heart, Sacred Games, is a crime thriller. Bullets fly fast and furious, the story is littered with corpses, police brutality and gang violence are presented in horrific detail. Violence, deceit, greed, lust, corruption - a trail of counterfeit money, cross-border terrorism, RAW agents, smugglers and drug dealers - this book has absolutely everything! The language fits beautifully with the context, but would be definitely rated 'R'! Not for the faint of heart, this one!
The book ends very satisfyingly - all loose ends tied up, all conflicts resolved! Sartaj Singh begins a new day, and in my opinion, his optimism reflects the resilience of the human spirit. Battered by life, in the shadow of terror - the living keep living, finding joy in the most unexpected places! To say I loved this book would be an understatement! An immense pot-boiler, it has something for everyone! Pick up a copy and dive straight in - I promise you won't regret it!
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