Book review: Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar, Translated by Jerry Pinto

Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar, translated from the Marathi by Jerry Pinto (Penguin Books).

This book was published in Marathi in 2006 and translated into English in 2013.

The reader falls deep into the story almost at the start and then there`s no coming out till the tale has been told.

It is a story related in a low pitch, one that thrums with passion, disillusionment, intrigue, secrets, heartbreak. A tortured love story told in two parts by a pair of siblings, brother and sister who love the same man. And what do we know about this nameless man, a paying guest at their house?

Why, that he is an artist, that he has ties to the French language and cuisine, that he was abused by his uncle when young, that he is moody, withdrawn, intensely private, that he plays the guitar quite well, and that he likes to have his Coke with a pinch of salt.

It is striking, the recounting of their love for the pg. As Tanay tells it, it was an entirely reciprocal affair; when the pg leaves without warning, the young man is gutted and what follows is a plaintive diatribe to the man who is no longer there.

In Anuja`s case, she is clearly made of stronger stuff. Her main doubt is whether she hustled the two of them into a relationship, and whether she deserves
to be the abandoned one now. The heartbreak is no less for both of them, the process of picking up the pieces no less arduous. What is even more poignant is, the two never know that both loved the missing man madly.

When you`re looking for a relationship, the process weakens you. You feel you have to bear with whatever the other person wants.

When I think about my childhood, I feel the best times came before one began to seek pleasure in the bodies of others.

Such colours, such colours. When you breathe out, I see red and yellow flashes in front of my eyes. When we are in the bath together, surrounded by a surfeit of steam, it`s a misty blue. When the sun is shining and we look at each other from a distance, and we smile, its white a shining white. If I`m talking to someone and mention you, it’s a dark blue. Dark brown when I call out to you; peaceful green when you call out to me.

The translation has kept close to the bone of the original. Talking of a meal, Anuja and the mysterious paying guest have at a downmarket eatery, there is a line that runs thus: But what food it was, what food. Elsewhere, Anuja who has wanted to be a waitress, gets to be a waitress, far away from home in Pondicherry. I suffered through that dream of mine, she states simply, tellingly.

Just read the book.