A new collection of detective fiction set in Mumbai stretches the genre beyond its limitations
The cover of Devan’s CID Chandru, an inspiration for Ambai’s new series. Pics Courtesy/amazon.in
Coimbatore-born Ambai writes stories that linger with us long after we’ve read them. Her characters are deeply fleshed-out and drawn earnestly from life. Sudha Gupta, the cinnamon-tea loving detective, first seen in A Meeting on the Andheri Overbridge, is one such character, an everyday woman living in Mumbai. Sudha was sketched from “a combination of many women” whom Ambai knows, she tells us. In her latest collection, The Death of a Sarus Crane (Speaking Tiger), translated from Tamil by Gita Subramanian, the detective is back with four new cases. Each case provides a window into the inner conflicts of the protagonists and the reasons that compel certain situations to reach extreme ends.
ADVERTISEMENT
The strength of the book lies in the power of the detective to access emotions that others seemingly cannot. In entering spaces with care, a detective does not only solve crimes; they also save lives.
Sriman Sudarsanam, a character popularised by Devan’s books
This is most evident in her third story Sepal, where the protagonist is seen standing at the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, contemplating suicide. “I wanted to explore human relationships and emotions in a city through this genre, not just through crimes, although they were also elements in the stories, but more through the complexities that a city like Mumbai creates around you,” shares the author, who spent her early childhood in the city and returned to settle in Mumbai in 1978.
“I wanted a woman detective with a family and a very kind-hearted police officer [Govind Shelke] to sift through these relationships with warmth and sensitivity.”
While Ambai cherishes the work of writers like Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, Ed McBain, Arthur Conan Doyle, she fondly remembers reading popular Tamil detective stories while growing up. These, she says, were easily found in circulating libraries. Among them, a writer she enjoyed most was Devan, the editor of Ananda Vikatan, a Tamil weekly, and creator of CID Chandru series. “He wrote many social novels which were serialised and had readers who admired him greatly, but his detective fiction was popular too, and had special readership.” She recollects his “fumbling detective, Sriman Sudarsanam,” alongside several other writers.
Ambai. Pics Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons
What makes Ambai’s stories stand out is her exploration of gender fluidities, often alluding to myth. She also explores the city, familiarising us with its streets and people. Referring to the title story, she remarks, “A case where a young servant girl was killed was in the news many years ago, and it did not become sensational at that time. Just a one-inch report. When I began to write about a similar incident, I thought Lokhandwala will be a good choice.” Migrants are an important part of the book, especially in the context of this story. When we ask her if this was a conscious decision, Ambai shares, “Mumbai has been a city of migrants for a long, long time. You can’t write a story based on Mumbai without referring to one group of migrants or the other. It is a natural choice, not a deliberate one. The migrants make the city what it is.”
Cost Rs 499
Available At leading bookstores and e-stores
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
