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GOA WRITER'S BOOK, A STORY ABOUT THE INDIAN DIASPORA SET IN SAUDI ARABIA By Nandkumar Kamat nkamat at unigoa.ac.in Vishram Gupte, originally from Nagpur, has settled in Goa for the past 20 years. He left a teaching job in Mapusa's V.N.S. Bandekar College to accompany his gynaecologist wife and son to Tabuk, an oil township In Saudi Arabia. The Guptes were in Saudi Arabia for four years. Vishram is a powerful writer in Marathi and an expert translator. He won the prestigious Tarkateerth Laxmanshastri Joshi Award For Translation instituted by the Maharashtra Government for translating Pavan Varma's book "The Great Indian Middle Class' into Marathi. He has also translated Architect K.A. Sadhales' Marathi book on the struggle against the Thapar-DuPont's Nylon 6, 6 plant and Pune-based Dr. Anil Awachat's 'Manasam' (Humans). But his most important contribution has been the Marathi novel, 'Al Tamir' (Continental, Pune, 2003, Rs. 150) based on his experience in Saudi Arabia. 'Al Tamir' is set in a city on the Egytian border. It provides a deep insights into the intrigues of the culture and life of migrant community from the Indian subcontinent, on the background of the orthodox and closed Saudi society. This is claimed to be first such novel on the background of Saudi Arabia, in any Indian language, so far. For sure, it is a pioneering work on the India diaspora in that country. The novel has already received Solapur's Bhairu Ratan Damani Award in December 2004. Its plot revolves around the protagonist, a male teacher in a co-ed Indian school, who is hired to fill up a vacancy created by a lady teacher. Male teachers cannot be hired in a school in Saudi Arabia where women teachers work. The entry of the male teacher creates a variety of problems. The protagonist Vikram is ultimately punished by the Saudi court and the family then leaves the place to return to India. In about 240 pages, the narrative of 'Al Tamir' weaves a tapestry of Indian, Pakistani and Saudi Arabian milieu as the plot to punish Vikram thickens. As the novel is based on the Gupte family's interaction with the several segments of society in Tabuk, it has a touch of reality. Goans and other who can read Marathi must read this novel, which is worth translating into English and Hindi. This novel is not critical of Islam, the Koran or Muslims in general but pities the orthodoxy of the resource-rich Saudi society and, at the end, delivers a message that human rights, equity, equality are above religion and no society in a globalized world can remain insular without reforms. Moderate and liberal elements in the Arab world would certainly welcome 'Al Tamir' if translated, although one can not guarantee such treatment from the fundamentalists. Gupte is involved in the projects of the Mapusa-based environmental campaign group, the Goa Foundation, and is a respectable literary and well read, articulate and creative literary figure in Goa. His wife Dr. Sheela Gupte, is employed at the Vrindavan Hospital, Mapusa. They have two sons. Gupte, through his literary output, has made Goa well known in Marathi circles outside Goa. 'Al Tamir' is likely to attract more attention as time passes, and it would be certainly controversial if translated in English. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOANET-READER WELCOMES contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the 7000-strong readership of the Goanet/Goanet-news network of mailing lists. If you appreciated the thoughts expressed above, please send in your feedback to the writer. Our writers write -- or share what they have written -- pro bono, and deserve hearing back from those who appreciate their work. GoanetReader welcomes your feedback at goanet@goanet.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goanet, 1994-2004. Building community, creating social capital for a decade. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------