Category: Fiction

Captain Barbe Rouge – The Honourable Pirate

Captain Barbe Rouge was a man of principles. He neither misbehaved with women nor succumbed to temptations like drinking or smoking. True, he was a pirate, yet he never dishonoured the women aboard the ships he hijacked. Once, when a male member of his crew assaulted a woman prisoner, the Captain ordered him hung upside down and lashed fifty times in full public view. The man nearly died, but Captain Barbe Rouge remained unmoved. To him, dishonouring a woman was unforgivable.

His wife and children feared him for his unyielding moral standards. Once, when his teenage son was reprimanded for teasing girls in school, the boy begged the principal not to inform his father. He eventually confessed to his mother, who chose to keep the incident from the Captain.

Life at sea was long and lonely. When his crew gathered over bottles of wine to break the monotony, the Captain stayed away. Discipline, he believed, left no room for indulgence.

His children longed for affection from him. They respected him, but it was a respect born of fear rather than love.
There was also the matter of his estranged younger brother.

The Captain was the eldest of three siblings. When their father died, he was only twelve, yet the burden of the household fell squarely on his shoulders. He cared for his mother and raised his younger brother and sister. With little money to spare, he abandoned his education after Class 7 and joined the family business.

Those early sacrifices secured a modest middle-class life for his family, but they left the Captain embittered. He put his siblings through college while his own dreams withered. As a boy, he had wanted to become a doctor. Fate had other plans.

Throughout his life, he worked relentlessly to keep others comfortable. Everyone sought his advice, his help, his strength – but no one ever asked him if he was happy, or whether he wanted something for himself. Surrounded by family, he felt profoundly alone.

Piracy was never his ambition. It was desperation. After his father’s death, he was broke, and a friend suggested they hijack ships to survive. What began as necessity hardened into profession.

Years later, his younger brother – now a senior government official – was suspended for corruption. The Captain was enraged. Dishonesty was intolerable. Without hesitation, he banished his brother from the family. Even after the brother served a two-year prison sentence, the Captain refused forgiveness. Blood, to him, did not excuse corruption. The brother left and never returned.

Time passed. The Captain’s children grew up.

His daughter fell in love with a college classmate. After they settled into their jobs, she decided it was time to tell her family she wished to marry him.

But there was a problem.

The man she loved was the son of a politician who had served jail time for embezzling public money. Would the Captain accept such a man’s son into the family?

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Why I liked Jaane Jaan

Set in the hilly tracts of Kalimpong, ‘Jaane Jaan’ is a movie about Maya D’Souza (Kareena Kapoor Khan), a single mother. When she is accused of murder, she finds unanticipated help from her neighbour, the socially inept but gifted Mathematics teacher Naren Vyas (Jaideep Ahlawat).S

Kareena Kapoor Khan, a seasoned actor, delivers a brilliant performance in a new role. She deftly plays Maya, the cafe owner struggling to make ends meet. While we are used to seeing her exude oomph, in Jaane Jaan, she manages to impress in a middle-aged avatar. Her grace wins her many admirers, most notably Naren. As a result, Naren visits Maya’s cafe often, more for her and less for the egg-fried rice.

Jaideep Ahlawat is terrific as the steely Naren Vyas. Lonely and depressed, he masks his unhappiness with dignity. He cannot articulate his fondness for Maya, whom he loves most after mathematics.

Vijay Varma shines as Inspector Karan Anand, the Mumbai police officer tasked with finding corrupt cop Ajit Mhatre’s killer. He is sharp and trained to look beyond the obvious. However, he is no match for the genius of Naren.  

Varma’s performance is noteworthy because he, being a newcomer to Bollywood, takes on Kareena Kapoor Khan, one of the industry’s most accomplished actors, with confidence. Also, while Karan is attracted to Maya, the movie doesn’t succumb to the temptation of melodramatising the two.

Jaane Jaan is also a story of the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. Naren and Maya, both waging a battle on their personal fronts, show the determination and courage to craft their destinies. While Maya is moving on after a messy marriage, the suicidal Naren finds in Maya a reason to live. Their never-say-die spirit is the thread that holds the story together.

Jaane Jaan is also noteworthy for its crisp narrative. There are no wasted scenes or unnecessary dialogues, and the makers brilliantly pull off a story around a murder cover-up.

What is also unique about Jaane Jaan is how it uses Mathematics to enrich the narrative. Right from Naren’s empathy for a struggling student, Naren’s tireless efforts to solve complex mathematics problems, and the clever use of the subject to obfuscate the truth, the power of mathematics is on full display.

The investigation into Ajit Mhatre’s murder hits a dead end. While Maya is let off due to a lack of evidence, Naren finds the right environment to pursue his passion for mathematics – jail.

The Island of Guypajama

Guypajama is a lush tropical paradise. A large variety of trees thrive on the length and breadth of the island. As you climb out of your boat and step onto the land, the smell of wet earth greets you. Guypajama is like any tropical region – warm by day and wet by night. 

As you walk around the island, you have leeches sucking the blood out of your feet. They are not painful and hard to discover. I spotted five of them clinging onto me once I returned to my room and removed my shoes. Some had sucked so much blood that they had grown to the size of a tennis ball. 

It is common to see snakes on the island. I spotted one the other day; it was about five metres long, had a hood and was hissing. It met the textbook definition of a cobra.

A thick canopy of trees blocks the sunlight. In some parts, thin shafts of light enter through narrow gaps in the foliage. 

Guypajama is a sensory feast. The air smells of damp earth; the sound of birds confirms again that you are in a forest, far removed from the bustling city. As the humid air engulfs you, you desire a bath.

I spotted a group of howler monkeys in the trees. Their hysterical laughter was annoying. I felt like slapping them but could not, for obvious reasons. Their howling increased when a piece of rotten fruit landed on my head. Indeed, their behaviour was far from cordial – I wished I hadn’t encountered them.

An architectural ruin is present in the centre of the island. The Incas who ruled this area centuries ago had built this fort-like structure.

As dusk approaches, you can hear the birds returning to their nests. Busy with hunting for food the whole day, they are on their way back home, looking forward to relaxing with family.

As night approaches, you hear the sound of crickets chirping. The constant buzz they produce reminds you of a lawnmower and also that it is time to call it a day.