Shoes of the Dead

Kota Neelima’s fictional take on farmer suicides arising out of debt in her book “Shoes of the Dead”, published by Rupa Publication India Pvt. Ltd. Deals with the social, political, financial and emotional aspects of one of modern India’s most ancient problems. Set in Mityala District, a parliamentary constituency in south central India, the story revolves around characters as varied as an elected Member of Parliament out of his depth with the problems plaguing his constituency, an investigative journalist with a prominent national daily who is in the job more out of his desire than need, the beautiful wife of one of India’s most powerful business scions who prefers to work for an NGO dealing with environmental issues, a civil servant who heads a very volatile and controversial committee whose balance he maintains by playing by the book and last but not the least the central character of this novel whose decision to stay back in his native village and fight for justice when he could easily have taken the easier and more profitable route out of it makes this book a gripping read.

The author has chosen a topic that though to us urban citizens is no more than sensational headlines but for the farmers in rural India who are primarily dependent on the rains for their survival it is one that decides their fate. The vicious cycle of poverty, debt, lack of irrigation facilities / over dependence on rainfall for agriculture coupled with greed, corruption, malice and illiteracy has been the fertile bed on which this persistent problem of farmer suicide thrives.

The plot has been well woven and not once during its narration does it come undone. The best part about this novel is that the facts and circumstances that are detailed with regard to the ground realities surrounding rural India are precise and to the point and there is not a hint of absurdity or literary liberty in the events that unfold. The plot moves on in a pace of its own and holds a strange twist of fate in the end. However it is pertinent to mention without giving away much of the plot that Kota Neelima’s “Shoes of the Dead” is a must read for all citizens of India to get a glimpse of how the various socities without our system work.

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