Meaningful Life

Book Review

Title: Ananta Jeevanam

Author: Kolakaluri Enoch

Publisher: Ratna Books, Delhi, 2023

Pages: 308

You can live like a dictator and enjoy the delights of power over other people. You may think you are a great person when you see others cower before you. You think their fear is their respect for you. But when your end is near and you become a helpless person, you will see the people’s colour change. Their fear becomes contempt for you. You will now see with terror the smug smiles on their faces as they watch you die in pain and helplessness.

Kolakaluri Enoch’s novel, Ananta Jeevanam, translated from Telugu by the author himself, tells the story of three brothers who lived luxurious lives and enjoyed tremendous powers over people. They were apparently happy too. But their lives did not end quite happily.

Though these three brothers play dominant roles in the novel, the book is also the story of Anantapur, a district in Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh. This rain shadow region is buffeted by an unusual cyclone that lasts 36 hours. The cyclone brings heavy rains that wreak havoc in the area. About 350 houses collapse and nearly 50 people lose their lives. There is much loss of livestock and property. While we are shown how the people deal with the catastrophe, we also get to learn their history. They were controlled totally by the dictatorial Govind Reddy, a descendant of the royal family that ruled the area from the Nelagallu Fort.

Govind Reddy lived like a king. He thought that all the people who lived in the area were his slaves. He exploited them brutally. Anyone who dared to question him was killed, either by himself or by his men. He was proud of his powers too, arrogantly so. But a time will come when he has to confront his real self, the self without the masks endowed by power over others.

Govind Reddy has two brothers: Ram P Reddy and Venkateswara Reddy. Ram is a successful lawyer. His success owes not only to his sharp intellect but also to the political power of his brother. No case that is defended by Ram P Reddy will ever be lost because the opponents will be either defeated by means of trickery or eliminated physically. Even the judges are afraid of Ram P Reddy.

Venkateswara Reddy is a good-for-nothing philanderer. He is handsome and women love to be with him. He becomes a farcical character when he is approached by the Congress Party to contest the elections. A member of the royal family is sure to win, the Congressmen know. Since the other two Reddys are too busy productively, the only Reddy who has nothing to do other than womanising is seen as a fit candidate for politics.

Realising that being a Member of the Parliament can be huge fun, Venkateswara agrees to contest the election. He wins. Now he can roam the entire country. He can go abroad when he wants. He can have the best drinks and the best foods. What about women? He asks. “Of course!” is the answer. There will be plenty of money too. What more would one want in life?  Venkateswara Reddy becomes an MP again and again, until the hollowness of a luxurious life drains his soul.

All the three Reddys realise the emptiness of their lives one way or another towards the end. That realisation does help to make their lives meaningful to some extent, except in the case of the shallow philanderer. 

We also see the people of Anantapur, how they deal with the cyclone as well as their history over a long period. The exploitative zamindari system will give way to distribution of land to the farmers. The Nelagallu Fort will be abandoned and become a haunted place. Ram P Reddy’s personal palace too will perish. The cyclone and the accompanying deluge will give rise to a new life in Anantapur where the sun will shine with a different kind of brilliance now. A new meaning dawns in Anantapur, a new way of living, a new way of viewing life. 

The author is a Padma Shri awardee and was a professor of Telugu. He champions the causes of the Dalits, women and other oppressed people. He has written more than hundred books and has won some literary awards.

This novel, Ananta Jeevanam (Endless Life), throws much life into the oppressive socio-political system in Andhra Pradesh. The system is not much different in many other regions of India even today.