All his previous misadventures are forgotten and he finds wide acceptance among his town folks, his family and even gains a few female admirers.īut, will Sampat be happy to revel in this new found reverence or will he forgo it all to spend time alone, forms the gist of the novel and in Kiran Desai’s deft and crisp narrative, the story becomes loftier than expected and I enjoyed each twist and turn, laughing out aloud. After a few failed attempts, he gives up and runs away from home to climb and sit atop a guava tree!Īnd, this is where the actual fun begins, with the insignificant Sampat becoming the talk of the town, famous as an other-worldly philosophical, extra ordinarily wise man. To give due credit, Sampat tries hard to fit in the society, but the more he tries, the more is his strangeness exposed to the world, further belittling his almost non existent confidence. In short, the entire Chawla clan is slightly eccentric, completing a dysfunctional family, with its torch bearer Sampath, being confused and totally disillusioned with the world at large. The weaknesses of Sampat have a logical explanation in his food obsessed crazy mother, frustrated yet over-optimistic father and the over conscious little sister. The novel tells the story of a simple minded but highly imaginative Postal Clerk, Sampat Chawla, who is a misfit in the highly competitive world of the small town of Shahkot, is looked down upon by his own father, is ignored by his colleagues and considered a wimp by most of his acquaintances. However, in the end, to my utmost satisfaction, the novel turned out to be a perfect blend of humor and emotions with the effervescent wit of Kiran infusing it with a fresh appeal. When I picked up ‘Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard’ by Kiran Desai, I was in two minds as to whether this book would be a light hearted comedy as evident from its very title or it would be an intense emotional drama as expected from the daughter of the famous Anita Desai.

Hullabaloo by kiran desai