A Thriller Born Out Of The Anguish Of A Common Man

Manish Jaitly. 26/11 Unforgiven. Notion Press. 2018. PP 250.

Young businessman Vikrant Maheshwari is entering the prime of his entrepreneurial life, dining with the high and mighty at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai on 26/11/2008 when disaster strikes. The terrorists kill his wife and daughter and he himself has a narrow escape.

Maheshwari is now a lost man. The company that he created from scratch no longer interests him. His home feels sour and lonely. He can no longer bear to live in the city where he built his life.

Maheshwari wants revenge. And if the government won’t do the job, he decides that he will. His first lead presents itself in the form of Farzana, an ex-employee whose brother Zakir has been identified as an Islamic terrorist. On the one hand, Maheshwari begins a torrid sexual affair with Farzana. On the other, he pumps Zakir for information until he learns that the Pakistani mastermind of 26/11 is within his reach.

But can Maheshwari conquer his human element and bring himself to kill a man, who is begging for his life?

Manish Jaitly’s 26/11 Unforgiven does a great job of bringing out the anguish of the common person who despairs over the Indian government’s weak kneed response to the attack on Mumbai. The lead character Maheshwari shows a general sense of contempt towards farcical “civil society responses” such Aman ki Asha and ritual Iftar parties with the Pakistani high commissioner in India. As also a sense of disgust towards elements of the then ruling party, which would rather spread bizarre conspiracy theories about “RSS involvement” in the 26/11 attacks than put up a united front against the real enemy.

A retired army officer himself, the author also touches upon the frustration of the military establishment at having their hands tied behind their back.

The book falters a little in developing characters other than that of Maheshwari. We are not given a real window to find out how Farzana thinks, which is a bit of a missed opportunity. The book also misses out somewhat on setting the scenes that the reader is not offered a sense of the sights, sounds and smells of the neighbourhoods of Mumbai, where the story develops.

Where the book excels is in its pace. The narrative is very focussed and always holds the interest of the reader, which is an expression of the clear headed thinking of Maheshwari. This is accompanied by a first-class plot that pays careful attention to detail.

The high point of the book is when the reader is reminded that Pakistan has all the leeway in the world to decide strategies, pick its targets and strike against innocent people whenever it wants. However, India is confined to measured responses in view of the fact that we have so much to lose. This asymmetric war presents a conundrum.

When we look away and do nothing, it only emboldens the enemy and invites more grief upon us. Such aloofness is actually worse than forgiveness. Sometimes it makes no sense to stay within the lines. This is the realisation that drives Maheshwari.

The author has produced a gripping thriller in which you can live out a revenge fantasy that every Indian has had at some point.