graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
by Indian graphic artist
Sarnath Banerjee
Sarnath Banerjee (born 1972) is an Indian graphic novelist, artist, filmmaker and co-founder of the comics publishing house, Phantomville.
Biography
Banerjee was born in Calcutta and lives and works in Delhi, India. He studied image and commu ...
. It is the author's third graphic novel after '' Corridor'' and '' The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers''. The book is introduced as a set of "loosely bound graphic commentaries" produced in a period of three years.
Plot
The Greater Harappa Rehabilitation, Reclamation & Redevelopment Commission (GHRRR) is a secret committee of elite bureaucrats, historians, ethnographers, social scientists, law enforcers, retired diplomats and policymakers. The committee has had the responsibility of conducting a survey of the "current ethnography and urban mythologies of a country on the brink of great hormonal changes." The author Sarnath Banerjee is assigned by the committee to disseminate information about the findings. However, Banerjee is afraid that the Harappa Recommendations will eventually make it mandatory for all the citizens to sign a draconian form "28b".
Selected "files"
The files are fragmentary narratives dealing with commonplace cultural artifacts from a post-liberalized India.
"Nano" talks about two friends, Vipin Mathur and Naman Doshi, who have known each other since childhood but are unable to meet because neither dares to cross the road. It dreams up a Delhi saturated with so many cars that pedestrians "can finally cross the road" when the jam ceases to move. It goes on to discuss Jaguar's acquisition by
Tata Motors
Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Mumbai, India, which is part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses.
Formerly known as Tata Eng ...
.
"The Dept of Surplus Emotion", written in collaboration with
Samit Basu
Samit Basu (born 14 December 1979) is an Indian novelist and filmmaker whose body of work includes science fiction, fantasy and superhero novels, children's books, graphic novels, short stories, and a Netflix film. His most recently published ...
, equates bureaucrats to
gargoyle
In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...
s and pays attention to the essential tools of the Indian bureaucracy: the Mystic Stone Paperweight, the
Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...
Supersonic Pen, the Triangular Bermuda file, the Kumar Bros.
Tiffin
Tiffin is an Indian English word for a type of meal. It refers to a light breakfast or a light tea-time meal at about 3 p.m., consisting of typical tea-time foods. In certain parts of India, it can also refer to the midday luncheon or, in s ...
Carrier.
"Jessie" talks about Jagadish Chandra Bose, who in 1904, received patents for making microwave receivers to detect radio waves. But the news of Bose's discovery reached late due to bureaucratic delays and Banerjee stipulates this might have costed India a
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
.
"Nehru's Children" talks about the over-reliance on remote, obscure General Knowledge and ends with a pastiche of the ubiquitous I.I.T. Tuition Classes' posters.
"Boroline", "Calomine X", 'Lifebuoy, Bullworker, VICCO, discuss the signs and significations of the products and their advertisements.
"Rakhaldas Banerjee's Plot" is a story of Girish, the psychic plumber, and tangentially, Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay, the man credited with discovering
Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';Bodhidharma's life with the images of a tea auction.
"Single Malt, Single Woman" discusses how after a
threesome
In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexua ...
there is disappointment since "it is now one fantasy less."