The story of my assassins
Tarun Tejpal
Harper Collins, Rs 495
An engaging look at the dark underbelly of our politics and society
Tarun Tejpal knows a lot about the dirty underbelly of the Indian state, elite and society. Combine that knowledge with a wonderful ability to spin a yarn in lyrical prose and you get an excellent novel. So make way, Messrs Vikas Swaroop and Aravind Adiga, for the definitive story of the Indian underbelly.

The premise of Tejpal’s novel is clearly drawn from his own experience in real life in the aftermath of the Tehelka defence exposé. The main protagonist of the book is the publisher of a magazine which just recently exposed corruption in the department of agriculture and food, and which then faced the blunt and revengeful fist of the state, driving the entire magazine into near bankruptcy. If that wasn’t bad enough, the authorities claim to have foiled an assassination attempt on the protagonist and have arrested five suspects for conspiring to kill him.

The protagonist’s life, already in some turmoil (he is disaffected with his wife and family, he and his Lincolnesque editor are scrounging around desperately for money to keep their magazine going, and he is having a torrid affair with a young left-wing radical activist), is now thrown into new complications, what with a full security detail to protect a threat to his life.
The publisher’s activist girlfriend, Sara, with whom he engages in frequent and energetic sexual liaisons, is convinced the five suspects are innocent and are being framed by the state. And she is determined to prove them innocent. The protagonist doesn’t really know what to believe, but plays along with Sara just to win sexual favours. The protagonist’s aloof and disinterested attitude towards everything except sex may be a depiction of the

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