The Silent Raga is a pleasant saga

GREAT READ: Merchant generously uses vernacular conversation to make the reader a part of this emotional saga.

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New Delhi: There are some pieces of writing that pull a string within you and then there are some that make you hear the unheard notes of everyday music. Ameen Merchant's debut novel does just that. So get ready for a musical journey called The Silent Raga.

"We shall not cease from exploration" is how Ameen Merchant begins his first novel and true to that, his two main characters never cease to explore — Janaki and Mallika, two Brahmin sisters, chase individuality, untie the knots of strict Brahmin traditions and still live by it as a matter of habit!

Janaki, the older of the two, decides to defy traditions, and elopes to marry a Muslim film star, obviously,inviting the ire of her father — who she then discovers is involved with her aunt, Gayattri Chitti.

What follows is her journey to Mumbai and discovering a bond with Zubeidaa, her husband's paralytic first wife.

A twist of fate has the two sisters scheduled to meet 10 years later. Janaki's love and closeted emotions for Mallika come flooding back even as both are equally apprehensive about the meet.

Cleverly alternated between the past and the present, Ameen Merchant lends a voice to both the sisters and generously uses vernacular conversation to make the reader a part of this emotional saga.

Things that work in Merchant's favour are: his two strong resilient protagonists, equally well demarcated roles for the rest and a very aesthetic sense of writing, that will keep the story ringing in your head.