Wisdom inspired by time

Parallel narration of two stories separated by aeons but similar in progression, ‘Ajita’, by K Sridhar, is a complex yet delightful mix of politics, philosophy, history and ideas. Ajita, a 5th century philosopher, and Moksh Malhar, a modern-day professor, run a similar course in life despite having taken birth centuries apart.

Ajita’s childhood curiosity about the marked discipline of ants ignites the thirst for knowledge within him. How come the ants are so organised when they seek food? How do they move in an orderly fashion? Do they communicate? Do laws govern them too? Endless queries in his head lead Ajita to a ‘gurukula’, where the philosopher inside him is nurtured and eventually blooms as the flag-bearer of the Carvaka School of Indian Materialism.

When he becomes a great orator, often competing with the best of his times, Ajita seeks to “demolish the metaphysical pillars of traditional religion”. “I want to commit myself to a life of ideas and eventually develop a new worldview,” he says. He even meets historical figures like emperor Ajatashatru, Mahavira and the Buddha, which lends grandeur to the entire narrative, as courtroom debates and men of letters make a mark, transporting the reader into the golden era of yore.

On the other hand, for Moksh, who is dealing with the ghosts of his past, it is “just so hard to handle these many losses”. The sad demise of his wife leads him into the world of books; he veers towards the works of Ajita and develops a deep liking for Carvaka philosophy. Lines between the past and present fade for Moksh, as the path for his journey of self-discovery is paved. By and by, he realises, “We live the same lives everywhere. We love, we lose, we suffer.” His struggles shape his being, as Moksh settles on the wings of Ajita’s philosophy.

The action begins in the summer of 524 BC for Ajita, while for Moksh it is 1983, but the narrative moves rapidly in time, as the two characters gain worldly wisdom and formulate philosophical viewpoints, before they reach the end of their respective temporal existences.

One unique aspect of the novel is its lipogrammatic structure, where each of the 26 chapters excludes one specific letter of the alphabet — a stroke of genius by a master craftsman like Sridhar! Pearls of wisdom are sprinkled throughout the text by the author: ‘Time itself is the greatest of illusions’; ‘Imagination is hard labour’; ‘It is about knowledge and, more importantly, it is about thinking’; there is no dearth of sentences that say less, mean more.

There are stories within the story, which makes deciphering each of them a tedious task at times. These unnecessarily stretch the novel, though all are masterfully crafted. A little less and the impact would have been manifold! Brevity is the soul of wit, right?

However, the author’s reimagining of an era most would only wonder about is quite appreciable. His storytelling is vivid and dialogues precise. Moving back and forth in time, combing the past and the present in a manner that they seamlessly mingle, and backing it up with thorough research is no easy task. The author has achieved all this with the precision of a surgeon.