Fadderbaba is Myron Pereira’s second novel published in quick succession after his maiden novel Mission to Sabarkantha. Both works are stories of ‘Catholic missionaries in India in times of violent change.’ While the first has a woman religious as the protagonist, the central character of the second is a Jesuit priest.

Fadderbaba is a cinematically narrated fictional work with a thickly layered plot. The novel unfolds in an extremely ‘interesting, nay, intriguing’ manner drawing in the reader right from the very first page. Father Dick, the Catholic priest works among the Warli Adivasis along the Maharashtra-Gujarat border. His revival of the Shetkari Sangh, built ‘to give the Adivasis a sense of dignity to empower them to fight for their rights’ antagonizes the politicians, police, sahukars and contractors, thus, exposing the unholy nexus. Harry, Dick’s brother is one among them.

Sensing that the prospective Dapcheri dam project is being jeopardized by the intervention of Fr Dick, supported by the environmental lobby, some sections of the print media and collaborators like Vimla, the young woman lawyer, hideous plans are hatched to eliminate the thorns in the flesh. As if this is not enough, Fr Dick faces resistance from the Jesuit establishment including his brother Thomas who is also a Jesuit.

Intertwined with material events are musings on various aspects of life, especially love and service, that touch a chord with the reader. The refreshingly original idiom of the novel has a relieving effect as one glides through its pages. Like his first novel, this one too is boldly told. The author, a Jesuit himself, does not fight shy of critiquing certain aspects of the Jesuit establishment. It is a far cry from the time when G.M. Hopkins, a Jesuit poet of the Victorian Age, could write only when his superior allowed him to.

• Rupalee Burke

Title: Fadderbaba
Author: Myron Pereira
Published by: Amaya Publishers
Pages: 366
Price: Rs. 399

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