Arzee the Dwarf : Chandrahas Choudhury

Convicted by reality, pardoned by imagination

Arzee is a dwarf working the projection room of the once great but now declining Bombay theater called 'Noor'. As one of his poet-philosopher-driver friend memorably says, he is 'chained by reality but pardoned by imagination'. He imagines himself being thought of as a special person despite his height, imagines working as the head projectionist at the Noor some day and dares to imagine marrying and settling down too. He is a thinking man who ponders about people, god and life, even as one of the other characters derisively calls his mind a 'theater of emotions'.

But too often reality jolts him like a thunderbolt. His dreams for the Noor come crashing down as the owners want to sell off the loss making theater. He is hounded by the betting cartel to whom he owes money. The girl he loves is wrenched away from him by her father and finally he gets to know of a family secret which makes him so despondent as to appear as a 'dissident' to happiness. Arzee finally manages to somehow get out of these difficulties and attain some kind of closure when the book ends.

Chandrahas Choudhury has created a character in Arzee who reflects all of us who have some kind of inadequacies. Arzee's inadequacies are externally manifested in his dwarfness which forces him to 'talk to the asses and crotches of the world' but many of us too suffer inadequacies internally and we like Arzee try to overcome them throughought our lives with varying degrees of success. Arzee's anxieties are the same as ours - a decent job, someone to love and a life of happiness. These are our anxieties too and this makes Arzee a very relatable character despite his dwarfness.

The novel also is a quintessential 'Bombay novel' where the city is as much a character as the others. The cast of characters with their varying backgrounds and thoughts could only have been assembled in the great metropolis. There is a wonderful description of the bustling train station which is a superb piece of cityscape writing. The great theater and the wonderfully evocative 'great beam' inside it can also be looked upon as a distinct character. The fascination with the movies and the effect it has on mass culture is beautifully depicted and is an ode to the charm of the erstwhile single screen theaters. 

Although its a very good novel with lot of layers, it does have a few shortcomings. The ending seems a bit contrived and has an almost bollywoodish feel to it. Also a few characters could have been given a longer run , like Arzee's poet-philosopher-driver friend Dasharatji and the blind daughter of the head projectionist who light up the only scenes they appear in, an extended role for each of them would have given an added dimension. Nevertheless the novel heralds the arrival of another English speaking voice to the welcome cacophony that is Indian writing in English and we should all welcome it.