Whiskey and Suicide” describes tender relationships, deep fears, and twist of fate that makes people vulnerable. This is the real India, real people.
Whiskey and Suicide deals with the themes of self actualization, mid-life crisis, identity in modern urban India. The protagonists range from people migrating from cities to small towns for peace of mind to a girl who kills her father after not being able to live with the pain of his alcoholism. It empathizes with familiar characters stuck in a routine, wanting to make a substantial change to their life. The protagonists reminisce the memories of a cheery past, mourn the death of a friend and wonder about self actualization.
Modern India is a complex place with the variety of demographics ranging from the multi billionaires to people who are not able to get a day's meal. The financial liberalization and the IT revolution has created a middle class that is ambitious both in economic aims and spiritual aims. Whiskey and Suicide is empathetic without being condescending.
Excerpt
She was sweating. She was afraid that Lakshit will get up and would be shocked to see all the blood oozing out. She was also afraid that Appa may not be so badly hurt and would get up and hurl the knife at her again. The dim kitchen light made it worse for her. It made her feel she was a part of some horror movie. She got up and washed her face. She jumped over his body to go to the other side of the kitchen that opened up in the living room. She went to his room and switched the synth off. It felt better that the irritating sound of the beat was no longer heard. She walked up to Lakshit’s room to check if he was awake. Luckily, he was sleeping like a charm. He was probably having some pleasant dream. He was smiling. He was probably dreaming about the game he played in the evening. She hugged him tight, and he put his hand around her in his sleep. She did not know if she was going to be allowed to stay with him or would be put in a prison.
“Should I end my life as well?”, she thought to herself. “No, I can not, bang came the reply. I have to live for Lakshit.”
“Why don’t you and Lakshit go to school?” Usha had asked her once.
It was a pungent evening very unlike a typical Bangalore evening. A typical Bangalore evening was pleasantly cold with a right amount of wind thrown in. Bangalore was a great place to live just for its weather. Though people talked about the horrible traffic, they did not have to face it since they hardly went out.
“Schools don’t matter in the modern times”, she told Usha.
Of course, it was a horrible lie. She desperately wanted to go to school. It was not the academics she was interested in, but the feeling of just being out of home. Staying at home was like staying in a prison. With fabulous amenities, of course. She wondered why Appa did not put them in a formal school. Whenever she had asked him in the past, he talked about the benefits of homeschooling and the deterioration of the mainstream education that had become useless. She tried to think of many reasons that sounded noble and made him look good, a good father. None of those made any sense to her. Of course, he did it to save money, she thought. Save money to drink more. Save money to get drunk, come home and beat kids. She had felt a wave of rage, she remembered. Usually, the mental ramblings started after the emergence of the rage. Sometimes she had some images flash in front of her eyes chaotically. She avoided thinking of unpleasant things and getting angry just to avoid the ramblings. She was really scared of them and there was no one she could talk to about them.
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