UNTUTORED in formal literary styles, Fiji’s emerging author Devendran Kumaran is surprising professionals in having already published three creative literary works since 2010. All three are different in genre.
His first production (2010), Mannu’s Karma is an autobiography; followed in 2013 by a social novel, A Hint of Blue. The third book, The Luxman Factor, published this year (2015) is a thriller — a first for the writer. He is about to finish another, his fourth book (a commentary on national affairs) later this year.
The Luxman Factor is not just a story to excite the curious and challenge the imaginative. Through it, the author raises political and philosophical issues that concern him and which need to be raised in daily mundane debates of social exchanges.
The story is of a well-educated couple who had both joined the civil service and were paid sufficient to afford a smallish but comfortable home on Mead Rd in Suva. Together they raised two children — both attending the University of the South Pacific. The setting was thus made for quick repartee, for clever reminders of wise teachings on life and for raising questions on fundamental values such as individual freedom, human rights, ethnic discrimination and gender equality.
The plot is simple and the pace is fast. It begins almost immediately with a murder.
The reader is then exposed to the process of police investigation and legal handling of suspects in the Fiji justice system. This is largely done through exchanges between the police team and the very loyal and calm wife of the accused.
It is interesting how the author chooses to reveal the nature of the main protagonist largely through the thoughts of a woman, his wife, who steadfastly defends his rights through exhausting interviews with the police team. She is a strong woman, whose job renders her economically independent, whose education keeps her abreast of world affairs and current developments, and whose guts keep her and her children intact while her husband abandons them and goes mysteriously underground.
In a society that tends to dwell much and mainly on the issue of abuse of women and violence against them, it is indeed a welcome change to feature the inherent strength that women do have as loyal wives and devoted mothers.
The author uses police interviews to make philosophical statements about life in general while occasionally forays, into the activities of the accused, to help carry the plot forward. The reader is left to surmise the purpose and plans behind the activities and meetings of the accused, while the banter between the wife and the police — mostly male interrogation team — tends more to expose the weaknesses of Fiji’s under-resourced police department and the strength of the lone woman they interrogate.
The main character believes he is a devoted family man performing all expected duties of a husband and father. He is, however, blindly selfish — valuing his personal freedom above all others. Such freedom for him equates with reneging on loyalty to his family as husband and father, therefore justifying infidelity, and frequent long absences from home that his family had learnt to accept as normal. This was a convenient factor when he finally made his dash for a final exit from his loyal wife and family to what he believed to be his personal freedom.
A reader who is not a Fijian of Indian descent may be excused to wonder if the husband’s behaviour is indeed typical of married men of that particular ethnic group. Cross-cultural exchanges between women may be useful to help them understand each other’s situation better.
This story, by an ex-civil servant, is not very complimentary of the public service. Corruption and betrayal worked against the police and aided the accused in his ultimate escape.
On reading this novel, one gets a sense of pique in the author’s mind as he tries to get his ideas and creative energy speedily expressed. His words seem to flow impatiently on to paper with little time or forbearance for finer editing to correct little (but not significant) spelling errors or twists in expressions. Sometimes the idiomatic comments and their context may leave non-Fiji readers a little lost though.
The prose is expressive with copious use of metaphors and sometimes almost poetic language. These are particularly apt in descriptions of scenery that roam like a camera from the large expanse to the small, individual item of interest.
While Kumaran raises the issue of ethnic discrimination, especially through the accused reminiscing of his stay at Lakeba, the reader is left wondering if the murder was possibly easier committed given the victim was of a different ethnic origin. Kumaran has done well to briefly deliberate on this issue. Basic perceptions across ethnic divides need to be more openly discussed in today’s society.
This is a short novel of 223 pages. It is easy to read within a half day. I do hope that it will encourage more people to read and to discuss issues of national interest raised within it.
It is available from University of the South Pacific’s Book Centre. For those who may want more information please visit www.mannuskarma.com.
* The reviewer, Suliana Siwatibau, although retired from employment, is active in national issues, mostly working with CSOs. She has sat on several boards, authored or co-authored several reports on a wide spectrum of national issues. The views expressed are hers and not of this newspaper.
