Book Review by K.S.Loganathan
Sahitya Akademi Award winner Upamanyu Chatterjee turns his attention to the meaning of life in his latest novel. It is said to be based on the life of Fabrizio Senesi, a good friend of the author. When the protagonist Lorenzo Boniface, aged twenty two, announces to his family his decision to enter the monastery at the Italian town of Praglia and become a Benedictine monk, his mother is aghast. She charges him with being selfish by abandoning his social obligations to become a selfish recluse. Lorenzo is advised by Carlo Caretto, the noted biographer of St Francis of Assisi, “to attune himself to hear that still, small voice in the most unexpected places; sometimes, that is more than enough”. He cannot be persuaded away from the path he has chosen.
Lorenzo is a diligent young man who completes his courses in Fine Arts and Physiotherapy training before becoming a novice. He tries to see the connections between what he reads and the life he is leading. Poverty, Chastity and above all, Humility ,are the vows of St. Benedict. He becomes a monk in eight years .
He is called upon to join a newly established church in an impoverished Hindu settlement in Khulna, Bangladesh. He prepares for his assignment by learning English and Bangla languages and basic Bengali etiquette .He changes his cassock for civilian clothes.
When he arrives in Dhaka, he notes that the atmosphere is not air but ‘ some sort of vaporized polythene’ ;the bore well water contains arsenic upto a certain depth; everwhere there are people. Over the next six years, he helps at the Saint Benedict Ashram in Phulbari Para, finding his rhythm in the quotidian life of the Ashram. He sets about creating five or six tempera paintings of the Life of Christ.
In time he listens to the small, still voice which asks him to serve humanity in the impoverished setting by treating disabled children and educating the villagers in community hygiene. He wants to quit the monastic life to ” make himself useful” and his life meaningful. He finds the Benedictine Rules , as a template for living, is only a beginning .
My views
Indic philosophy considers the goals of human existence as , in order, Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Lorenzo’s life comes full circle as he starts his life searching a direction for his spirit ,and addresses the numerous issues that challenge him in life’s task .Chatterjee has woven Benedict’s Dharma into a monk’s life, including in the book the most arcane bits of information about life in a monastery and in Bangladesh. Its pace is leisurely, and it is intertwined with mordant humor and gravitas in just the right proportion. As the Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard said, ‘ life can be understood looking backward, but must be lived going forward ‘.It is not the straight , narrow path of virtue, but a winding one which demands an ability not to get lost. Happy reading !
