Book Review - Anand Owari

Anand Owari is a well-known Marathi novel, written by D B Mokashi which deals with Kanhoba, Sant Tukaram's younger brother, who is trying to locate Tukaram, who has disappeared, for the last time. During the later phase of his life, Saint Tukaram had developed the habit of going into seclusion for shorter duration and would come back. And hence no one, except the close family, took his disappearance seriously. The novel depicts the journey of Kanhoba for next 72 hours, as the pressure builds up & eventually the search turns out to be futile. The story operates at various levels and presents many viewpoints and is filled with an intense, fast paced landscape of emotions and understanding.

In this novel, Tukaram's story has been rendered in a very different perspective. It gives an intense portrait not only of Tukaram the man, but also of the restlessness of a creative and rebellious person. Kanhoba seeks to understand this and shows us the picture of this different Tukaram, one we can all relate to.

In a surprising small book, just 72 pages, the author has portrayed each character in a unique style, giving enough justice to each. 

While the search is going on Kanhoba says... 

A very brief comment about Sawaji, the eldest brother, says it all ... 

And this is about the poetry of Saint Tuakaram ... 

This novel raises questions related to our lives and makes us introspect. It explores the pain and agony of human life. I always found Tukaram's story, his day-to-day struggle, challenges more human and appealing to a common man, compared to the likes of Saint Gyaneshwar or Ramdas, who appear to have the sense of purpose and understanding of the *divine* self, more or less by birth. The novel takes us through the step by step journey of transformation driven by the life around him, thus making him look for the true meaning of life and exploring other domains, in turn renouncing his life. Kanhoba, his brother, on the other hand continues to be a part of this world and explores its complexities.

The story is centered around the contradiction between Pravritti (initiative and action) and Nivritti (resignation and withdrawal). Kanhoba poses the  tension between the mundane world of crass materiality and the spiritual or mystic renunciation of that world. Kanhoba emerges in this narrative Tukaram’s alter ego of sorts.

Kanhoba is posing the question, if the materialist view of the world and its mundane compulsion can be wished away at all? Kanhoba is caught in a trap of that mundane world and his beloved brother losing himself in his Bhakti and his Vithoba.

Kanhoba lends poignancy to Mokashi’s work which sums up the dilemma that paradoxically has made Tukaram the most loved poet of Marathi. In the end there is no answer to Kanhoba’s  predicament or the entanglement in the mundane world and the spiritual quest. He cannot resolve it the way his brother did or could. At times in Mokashi’s work, Kanhoba seems to be uncertain if his brother really ever solved the dilemma. For Mokashi’s Kanhoba, the quest is not over nor is it ever likely to be over.

In the end, Saint Tukaram is successful in his own way, renouncing the world, that is well-known. But the author takes the reader to a different level of understanding when the story takes a dramatic turn with Kanhoba leaving the  family house, leaving the sacred village Dehu & renouncing the path of Vithoba, for ever, leaving the reader with a heavy heart and possibly wet eyes.

Note: While Nivritti is generally seen as a path of resignation and withdrawal, for those who are actually walking  it, the path is about acceptance. Accepting life as is, without complaints and lack of willingness to 'fight' with the situation can either be seen in a positive light or negative one, it's the question of your perspective. People opting the path can see it in positive light as they can see something different, beyond the horizons, beyond the 'daily grind'. 

This difference in perspective is a major reason for the difference in opinion. Kanhoba, like most people, could not see difference. Just a personal opinion.