by vivek shanbhag translated by srinath perur ants and ants everywhere some around rings left by teacups on the floor some around crumbs this is the kitchen of a lowermiddle class home with rooms built like train compartments members of this closeknit joint family see themselves catapulted into another social milieu and lodged in an expansive bungalow thanks to the spices business run by an unmarried brother of the head of the family their journey up the ladder comes at a heavy cost upsetting everything soon they begin to show marked signs of envy and aggression be it the casual cruelty of killing an ant or hiring goons to silence a soninlaw relationships crack and ideals are tarnished they seem dysfunctional as they grow in numbers and economic strengthwe arent sure at the end whether the nar rators wife who has left to her parents home will return the narrator takes stock of these twists brooding for hours in a caf where he meets a senior waiter with an apparent second sight all ghachar ghochar a nonsense term that implies knotty problems or a tangled messgrahachara misfortune one might have said in kannada the kannada original was written three years ago but vivek has expanded the story for the english version perur compliments this with an excellent translation vivek s storytelling is like a whisper that contains a shout he talks of contemporary angst with the commonness of a wardrobe dilemma but it resonates like a riot if thats a tribute to his economy of expression it also speaks of room for the readers involvement book launch at 645pm on january 19 at alliance francaisegirish karnad will release the book vivek shanbhag and srinath perur will be in conversation with arshia sattar