Unni’s mysterious death was now just a plain simple reality that Ousep Chacko and I refuse to accept. Ousep’s obsession over Unni’s life troubles me. I read the last few pages over and over again hoping I have missed out something, something that stops me from being engrossed in these words. I wanted more. The ending kept replaying in my head like a sad love song, going through all the tiny details over and over again. At the end of the novel, the search for the life Unni lived is just beginning. Ousep Chacko as a father is yet to discover his son. Even though Unni is dead; Ousep knows his son lives in the memory of others. He holds onto those memories and imagines his son alive. I feel incomplete without knowing how or what Unni’s life was, the simplicity behind this mystery.
I walk around for a while, thinking what was supposed to happen. How is this reality going to affect the chacko’s? Will Ousep still continue to come home drunk? Will Mariamma still talk to walls and fantasize about killing her husband? Will Thoma become the man he dreams to be? These thoughts never escape my mind. Even days after I have finished reading the book, this keeps coming back to me. Haunts me day and night. This is what Manu Joseph has accomplished, he has captivated me with his characters and now I feel somehow connected. I seem to understand them, what they are going through, I feel what they feel.
“Ousep Chacko, according to Mariamma Chacko, is the kind of man who has to be killed at the end of a story.”
That’s how Manu Joseph steals your attention at the beginning, the very first line. Plain, yet revealing. I would like to think of Manu Joseph as an artist. Each character, he starts of with a basic outline, then he advances , slowly we see a picture colourful with history and deep with thoughts.
Ousep Chacko is a failed writer, a failed husband, a failed dad: a failed man. It is alcohol that fuels his daily freak show in the night. The Obituary with his head hanging in the lungi noose, Mariamma hoping his chair slips and he hangs to death and poor Thoma controlling his laugh. These are times when I want to laugh but something deep inside me feels for Ousep, his failure. I feel for Thoma and Mariamma who are humiliated by this insensitive intoxicated act of foolishness. Every line gives me a rush of feelings. Ousep Chacko reminds me of my dad back in the old days, the stupid acts he used to pull off when he was drunk. Now it seems funny, when I look back at it. Life’s Up’s and down’s. Ousep is the guy who was never there for anyone. He never got involved in Unni’s life; He never took care of Mariamma and tried to understand what she was going through. He doesn’t seem to be interested in Thoma’s life even after Unni’s gone.
There are times when I take Ousep’s side too. We have to understand the frustration of a man who has failed his dreams. He finds out after months of marriage that Mariamma has some issues. Unni’s death. All this hits hard on him like a train. Alcohol taking over him in the shade of the night. It’s as if Ousep Chacko is two different people, the one who searches for the truth of his son’s death and the drunken maniac.
Mariamma like Unni, seems to be a mystery. The plot opens up the past of the character. I became so deeply engrossed in this Malabar traditional mother. I felt connected to her feelings, even though there isn’t much relationship between my Amma and Mariamma, some lines just brings the warm images of Amma to my confused mind. I sit and wonder how a book can provoke such personal thoughts.
“She is only a subject of their compassion, which is a cowardly form of self-congratulation. She makes them feel they are better than her. They pity her for her man, for the loss of her child, for the way she walks along the road talking to herself, scowling sometimes, smiling sometimes. And her poverty, who can understand her poverty?”
I read through these discreet lines that open up a strange woman’s mind, Mariamma’s mind. There is certain empathy that takes over me. As the novel progresses, I seem to decipher Mariamma more and more. She is not just a regular housewife; she is a rock who stands strong through all the shakes of life. She has a past that explains her future, and you understand why she talks to the walls, why she is the way she is. Unni was the only one who understood her. Unni was everything for Mariamma. Without Unni we see Mariamma a bit lonely and a bit more lost. Even though Thoma tries his best, he can never be Unni. Mariamma is not just living; she is a fighter who survives every day.
Thoma the younger brother of Unni is a dreamer. He dreams of becoming someone worth living. The greatest challenge for Thoma is to fill the emptiness that fills the Chacko’s when Unni passed away.
“Thoma wants to be by her side but he is afraid. Ousep has never hit his mother, but what if he finally decides to? Unni was brave. Thoma does not remember a single moment when Unni was nervous or shaken. He never pretended to be asleep when Ousep came home drunk. In fact, when their father stood too close to their mother, seething like a fool, Unni would stand between them. Ousep would push him away but Unni would regain his position, fists clenched.”
Throughout Thomas narration, we see how he is struggling to be like Unni. He knows he should be strong and take care of his family. Thoma is too young and embarrassed to face the outside world. He is ashamed of his drunken father and crazy mother. He is ashamed of the fact that no matter how much he tries he can never be as intelligent or creative as Unni was. There is a certain strong brotherly bond between Unni and Thoma. There is also a silent competition between Unni and Thoma.
I think Unni’s death takes a great toll on Thoma. Thoma doesn’t have anyone to look up to in his life. He is left with a drunkard, a crazy mom and a society that treats him like an alien. He is confused and wants to do a lot. He wants to be better but don’t have anyone to lift him up and be there for him. There is this childish innocence that surrounds Thoma. It’s very intriguing how Manu Joseph uses Thoma as a tool to explore the mindset of a young Indian boy.
Unni is the main character of this novel. The entire plot revolves around the mysterious death of Unni. Unni is a thinker, he is an artist. He is portrayed as someone who can understand the feelings of others. He believed that happiness is everyone’s inevitable destiny and no matter what we do we cannot escape happiness. Some might find Unni weird and some might find him interesting.
His stories, his experiments and his thoughts provided me with an enigma that I had to solve to find out where the story was headed. Every time I thought I had him figured out, the plot was a slithering snake that twisted out of my bare hands. Manu Joseph always hits me with the unexpected at almost every line of the story. I have this strange notion that every character in the novel is in turn a small depiction of a part of Unni’s vast mind.
Manu Joseph has this way of giving a different point of view in a different page. I found it interesting also a bit confusing. I couldn’t choose whose side I should be on. Everyone seemed legit. Our happiness forbidden by the norms of society, our inevitable happiness and how we sometimes try to avoid it, our happiness and how we get mocked for it. That’s what the title implies and that’s what the story unfolds into; The illicit happiness of other people.
The novel was a roller coaster ride. It gripped me hard and took me through an thrilling exploration. A psychological, philosophical tale that takes your mind by surprise. Everything just sticks to your mind, the Chackos, the 90’s madras, Balaji lane and the people there. The subtlety that makes it hard to crack those powerful words. Facts that keeps coming back to you. The illicit happiness of other people is not just a book, it was an emotional delight for me. Like an old unforgotten memory it will be instilled in my mind.
Armed Hermit 