ELTWeekly Vol. 4 Issue#33 | August 13, 2012 | ISSN 0975-3036
Book: ‘Hakuna Matata – Life is Calling’ by Srinivas Yanamandra. Rupa Books.
Reviewed by Dr. Krati Sharma
Hakuna Matata Life is Calling is a fiction which falls under the genre of Indian Writing in English. This fiction is a maiden attempt of Srinivas Yanamandra. He is a C.A. by profession and in his amateur attempt he proves that, he is well read author who is not only a keen observer but also possesses a lucid style.
The aim of the fiction is to salute the spirit of Mumbaikars which is unfettered even in the midst of terrorist attack. The story revolves around a happy, educated Chartered Accountant Kaushik and his beloved Anushka an orphan, educated and employed girl. Kaushik is an independent, frank and an extrovert and has a great sense of humour which helps him befriend people in his office and neighbourhood .
The story sets in Mumbai with a love affair of Kaushik and Anushka. They are the young portrayals of the ignited Indian youth minds . They meet and fall in love and decide to get married. It is like a dream for Anushka who gets such a friend and lover like Kaushik.
Every chapter begins with proverbs of different languages representing the content of the chapters .The title Hakuna Matata is a Swahili phrase that can be translated literally as “There are no worries.” Its meaning is similar to the American English phrase “no problem” or Australian English phrase “no worries” and is akin to “don’t worry, be happy”. Every chapter starts with a proverb for illustration chapter I starts with Indonesian proverb Ada Asap Ada Api (Where there is country smoke, there is fire).Most of the chapters begin with date , time and place which eases the imagination of the reader.
Anushka falls trap to an anti terrorist cell as her credit card is found in the pocket of a dead terrorist. Anushka was present in ‘The Garden Hotel’ when the terrorist attacked that hotel. As a result, she gets hold of the anti-terrorist squad. Kaushik is also detained by the Anti-Terrorist Squad and enquired regarding his relationship with Anushka. Kaushik. He gets a setback by the whole mystery and leaves the hotel in the evening. He knows Anushka well and he could not believe that she was a part of the gang. There is a twist and a turn in the story which makes it captivating. Kaushik takes help of his friend to understand how to make fake credit cards. The writer gives a detailed chart of it on pp 49 to describe the whole process. By this process Kaushik tries to solve the mystery that Anushka was not a culprit but a victim as her id was hacked and used by the terrorists.
The fiction has an undercurrent of recession which is introduced to the reader through the character of Mirdula, a qualified woman who loses her lucrative job because of it and works in a call centre. Secondly, in order to ease the hardships of life Anushka too keeps credit cards and her card is misused by the terrorist.
The hotel episode is very interesting. It conveys the mentality of the educated youth who decide to make love before marriage. Anushka, an upright girl gives her nod for this. She says , “ I have made up my mind, Kaushik. I‘ll go by what you say. I ‘m all yours. You just tell me when. . . (pp63).To the reader,s surprise, they make up their mind in the room to experience it after marriage. This shows that some Indian values are still alive and kicking among the youngsters.
The author talks about the set up of a local train, SMS, cellphones , credit -cards. All these things present the picture of metro cities. All these things are the need of the present time and the author has used them well. He beautifully describes the office culture, the SMS’s forwarded among the colleagues. Author highlights the openness and forward thinking of men and women, where they are not embarrassed to share adult jokes or discuss their love life. There are frequent uses of phrases of common discourse like bottom up approach, like“looking at female’s feet first to confirm her marital status before starting to think about her as a partner” (p27). The language is very simple and full of jokes cracked by Kaushik. “Don’t tell your secrets to your friends, he will tell it to his friend” (p148). A real and alive conversation is produced when Mirdula handles the query of the credit card holder.
The writing of Srinivas Yanamandra is quite bold as he openly writes lovemaking scenes, indecent jokes etc. The fiction catches hold of the readers as he talks about a simple plot with a twist of mystery. The real hero of the fiction is the system and technology which proves Anuskha innocent in the end and both get married. The story portrays contemporary India, the mindsets of the metro youth and their perspectives towards family.