Book Review: How Gourango Lost His O, by Sanjoy Ghose

What happens when a lawyer practicing in Delhi, locked down at home due to Covid – 19, sets out to write a book of fiction? Well, the reading public gets to know, How Gourango Lost His O. Purportedly a work of fiction, How Gourango Lost His O features a number of lawyers, clients, their families and most importantly, court clerks, for every lawyer worth his/her salt knows how important court clerks are to the smooth functioning of courts. The characters in How Gourango Lost His O come in all shapes, sizes and ages. Some are good, many are clever and a few (like Narendra Biswas aka Nasty Naru) are downright nasty, because fate had been unkind to him ‘and compassion and kindness had left him years ago’.

How Gourango Lost His O had been on my reading list ever since it came out many months ago, but it was only very recently that I managed to read it. I read it in one go, since I found it unputdownable. The best thing about How Gourango Lost His O’s cast is that everyone is real. Real as in, I’m sure the characters either existed or continue to exist, somewhere in India, most probably in the vicinity of various chartered High Courts and the Supreme Court. Since the author Sanjoy Ghose is a lawyer who practices in various courts and tribunals in the NCR region, including the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court, it is possible that the main protagonist Gourango might bear some resemblance to Ghose and some of the characters in How Gourango Lost His O (like Gourango’s senior Indumati Khilani) might remind the reader of well-known lawyers who grace the corridors of courts in Mumbai and Delhi. However Ghose doesn't offer any clue as to where facts end and fiction begins.

Noor Malik is forced to litigate when the government frames a new rule that would prevent him from being the headmaster of the Madarassa where he teaches. Enter (no, not Gourango at this stage) Keshto Bannerjee, a Kolkata lawyer who is decent enough to not hold out false hopes to his clients. Ghose tells us from the beginning that Noor Malik does not have a strong case and that the odds are stacked against him. However, Ghose builds up the reader's sympathy for Noor from the beginning and there is always a glimmer of hope.

Wasn’t it George Orwell who said that the best books are those that tell you something you know already? As someone with more than a passing familiarity with courts and lawyers, How Gourango Lost His O told me a lot of things I already knew about lawyers and courts, but in a nice way, tickling my funny bone quite frequently, but more often than not, it brought in a flood of memories.

Ghose writes in limpid, but elegant prose, which makes it all the more easier to turn the pages of this finely crafted, not-too-thick, not-too-thin storybook.  How Gourango Lost His O has at least fifteen significant characters and for each of them, Ghose paints a fine portrait, in the most economical manner. For example, we are told that Keshto’s clerk Jobu is someone who has made himself indispensable to Keshto and also ensured the sacking of four juniors who made the monumental mistake of miscalculating that Keshto was the boss of his own office. In contrast, Ghose would have us know that Parambrato Basak, a ‘service judge’ was not a compassionate man. However, while serving as a district judge in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, two judges of the Calcutta High Court visited him to hear appeals against Basak’s orders. Basak was at the aerodrome, to receive the judges, as per custom. Mrs. Basak hosted a lavish dinner for them on their first evening on the island. The judges go back to Calcutta with stories of Basak’s honesty and industry. Within weeks, Basak is promoted to the High Court!  

Does Noor receive justice from the Indian legal system? Do kind, capable and not-so-expensive lawyers like Keshto Bannerjee and Gourango find answers to Noor Malik’s prayers? Please do read this excellent novel to find out more.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD

How Gourango Lost His O is divided into three parts. In Part 1, Noor Malik fights his case in the Kolkata High Court where Keshto Bannerjee is his lawyer. Later, in Part 2, he takes his fight to the Supreme Court, where Gourango is his counsel. But after Judgement Day, the last chapter in Part 2, Noor disappears from the book. In Part 3, Ghose introduces a number of new characters, ranging from Naren Gujjar, a landlord from Greater Noida and an original inhabitant of Delhi, to Rajesh Aggarwal, who gamed the Indian legal system so judiciously and Mohandas Chaddha, a corporate litigant who was, unusually, fighting for his honour. All of these characters come with their own story packs and Ghose dispatches them with the same efficiency as he presumably would, a plate of kosha mangsho and half a dozen piping hot luchis.