Miniature of human life
Reviewed by Kanchan Mehta

Early Indications 
By G B Prabhat.
Gyaana Books. Pages 312. Rs 315

It is a linear, racy, engaging, rich in literary and philosophical references, narrative of ups and downs, expansions and contractions, twists and turns in narrator, Shiva’s relationship with his four friends. It is set against the framework of academic life. Of all the layers of theme in the text — the intricacies, variations and harshness of the world of relationships is indicated by two key events of the text. The narrator is almost killed by his best friend for turning the latter ‘the invisible man’. And, the narrator turns indifferent to the friend, in need of financial help, who putting his own life at stake saves the narrator’s life.

The other layers are — the contrasting worlds of children and adults, futility of existence as death renders everything futile, and redemptive power of an escape from an encounter with death as Shiva after a miraculous escape from tsunami acknowledges his debt to his friend and visits Coimbatore after 20 years, realising the indissoluble link between past and present.

The title, the epigraph and the early section, where Shiva and his four friends as kids are foretold about their callings by their doting school teacher, calling them ‘Five Geniuses,’ capture the significance of the ‘early indications’ in human life.

And a word about characters. There are five well-delineated characters, each with a different destiny. Their life stories together present the miniature of human life. However, vividly and comprehensively depicted, Coimbatore where the tale is set, is the sixth character. And the description of the speech peculiarities of Coimbatorians is quite humourous.

Finally, the use of acclaimed literary works — 1984, The God of Small Things and others — for the titles of the sections in the text and as major symbols beautifully intertwined with the plot — is the highlight of this absorbing novel.

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