Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

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Vintage Lead Debut. When kids go missing in an Indian slum, nine-year-old Jai takes matters into his own hands: an irresistible child narrator to captivate the literary/commercial market

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Deepa Anappara: The spark for the novel came from a spate of real-life disappearances of children in India, where I worked as a journalist for over eleven years. I used to write on education and human rights, as part of which I interviewed people who lived in impoverished neighbourhoods like the one in my novel. During that time, I used to hear stories of areas where as many as twenty or thirty children had disappeared over a span of two or three years; no effort had been made to find them because they were from poor families that had no voice or political power. I used to wonder what it was like for children to live in such neighbourhoods, knowing that they themselves could be snatched at any moment. How did they deal with that fear and uncertainty? How did they understand the unfairness and injustice they encountered in the world around them every day? Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is an attempt to answer those questions through fiction. While Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is a fascinating study of India in the modern age, the plot left much to be desired. The protagonist was difficult to gel with and the pacing was far too slow to be enjoyable. None of which was helped by the rushed ending, which felt like an afterthought and unearned.In an unnamed sprawling Indian city Jai (9 years old), life in the slums is consumed with watching the TV that is the centrepiece of his home, especially detective serials; fellow Muslim pal Faiz is a huge fan of the supernatural especially Djinns; and their female nerdy buddy Pari, is the one focussed on using her brains to escape the slums via education. The 'Djinn Patrol' comes into existence when led by Jai they seek to explore their city to try and investigate what becomes a series of missing children! Nine-year-old Jai lives in a slum on the outskirts of an unnamed Indian city with his parents and older sister. In many ways he is an unremarkable boy: he watches reality cop shows on TV, attends the overcrowded government school, and tries to stay out of trouble. But when one of his classmates goes missing, Jai – taking inspiration from the television programmes he devours – turns amateur detective and vows to uncover the mystery of the disappearance. With the help of his two best friends – sensible swot Pari and diligent Faiz – they form a comically hapless trio and set off on the city metro’s purple line to investigate. A partial of her novel won the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, the Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award, and the Bridport/Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award for a First Novel. It is now being translated into 17 languages. Deepa’s short fiction has won the Dastaan Award, the Asian Writer Short Story Prize, the second prize in the Bristol Short Story awards, the third prize in the Asham awards, and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where she is currently studying for a Creative-Critical Writing PhD on a CHASE doctoral fellowship.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara review – a

Created from whole cloth, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is a richly textured rendition of a world little seen in Indian literature. There is no desire to smooth and tidy in fiction what is untidy in life, but instead there is a pay off for the reader in a story that is as quietly troubling as it is convincing.” —Mridula Koshy, author of If It is Sweet The poem wants to know why the moon is sliced in half on some days and why it‘s a circle in other days. The worst thing about the poem is that it doesn‘t answer it‘s own question.” Since December, people in India have been participating in peaceful marches (apart from those who have resorted to stone pelting) because they want to have their problems heard and solved. Instead of concentrating on The Personal Data Protection Bill, which is said to have the potential to ‘turn India into an Orwellian state’, or the Trans Bill, which violates the fundamental rights of citizens, we are choosing to focus only on religious issues today. This misplaced focus has led to a number of problematic bills getting passed, thereby pushing the common man’s problems down to the bottom of the barrel to get lost and forgotten. This is also the case in the book, where the authorities choose to play a blame-game based on religion rather than focussing on the actual investigation into the case of the vanishing children. The book draws attention to the large number of children who go missing in India daily. Did you know close to 200 children go missing there each day? Jai takes us along with him to school, among his small group of friends, within his home in the basti with his loving parents, and chachis who keep an eye on him, too, and in the local bazaar. One by one, children in the basti disappear, and everyone becomes more unsettled, rightfully so, seeking police help with little avail. The author’s insightful note at the end is a must-read for why she wrote the book and its importance to her.Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Penguin Random House Canada for an ecopy of this novel. I am providing my honest review. This was released February 2020. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, The Washington Post, NPR, The Guardian, Library Journal Since he had been born, she had considered Jai with a blend of loathing and admiration. It seemed to her that he had a way of softening the imperfections of life with his his daydreams and the self confidence that the world granted boys. Which, in girls, was considered a character flaw or evidence of a dismal upbringing.” In this coming-of-age story, sometimes children are mere children taking words too literally, words tinged with innocence, words as yet untainted with the evils of the world. Early on, when the first child vanishes, Jai confidently says, “Bahadur is our age. We aren’t old enough to die.” Later on, when that number rises, and the statistics and child-snatchers sneak their way into his own home, he asks: “What is a whole life? If you die when you’re still a child, is your life whole or half or zero?” Sometimes, children are wise beyond their years and have to grow up too soon. “I slide under Ma-Papa’s bed. I’m brave in the day, but my braveness doesn’t like to come out at night. It’s sleeping, I think,” says Jai, later on, as his courage crumbles under the cruelties of the world. Being a detective is “too-tough,” he confesses. Just because you read books doesn't mean you know everything," Faiz tells her. "I work. Life's the best teacher. Everyone says so."

Djinn Patrol on the Holding Its Own: On Deepa Anappara’s “Djinn Patrol on the

Reality shows on TV are popular in India as it is elsewhere across the world, and the one about cops that Jai watches called Police Patrol is based on a similar, long-running TV show in India. It seemed natural that Jai would be inspired by what he watches on TV; popular culture in the form of TV and Hindi films do exert an influence on daily lives. For me, the most powerful chapters were “This Story Will Save Your Life” which were mostly stories of the djinns and other beliefs regarding wandering children. My favorite scene was when Jai and Pari went to the railway station. Because of the title and blurb, I have to admit that I thought a big portion of this novel would take place around the railway. However, there was only one big scene there in the beginning. I wasn’t too pleased with the ending, but I respect the underlying messages delivered to the reader through that conclusion. It’s difficult to convey what’s so special about Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line without spoilers, but suffice to say it’s transformed utterly by its concluding chapters... [Anappara] delivers something more powerful and complex than the vast majority of more highly crafted novels. The narrative goes beyond portraying how the poor of India have been betrayed by their government, and suggests they might also be betrayed by the stories we like to tell about them. Jai has to grow up overnight: this book asks that the reader does, too. Sandra Newman, *A dazzling debut* GuardianSet in a basti, or Indian slum, where children have vanished and the police are disinclined to help, the novel follows 9-year-old Jai and his friends as they play detective to try and solve the case. It’s an incredible window on daily life in such a place – the precarity of knowing the authorities could bulldoze your home at any moment, but also the strong family and community bonds that form there. The sights sounds and smells of the basti are vividly evoked as Jai & investigate, and this immersive depiction is really well-balanced to be neither sensationalised nor sugar-coated. In thisthrilling reading experience,Deepa Anappara creates a drama of childhood that is as wild as it is intimate. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Lineis an entertaining, wonderful debut that will earn all the acclaim it is sure to get.” —Chigozie Obioma, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of An Orchestra of Minorities a b c d Adams, Lorraine (31 January 2020). "Who Cares About One Missing Child in an Indian Slum? Another Child". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 1 October 2020.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara - Waterstones Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara - Waterstones

Deepa is also a graduate of City’s Novel Studio programme, of which Emily Pedder is Course Director. We face this maelstrom of malevolence through Jai's cheeky, endearing gaze, which makes it all the more harrowing. His exuberance for life is juxtaposed with a world that is hell-bent on stamping out his innocence at every turn.Djinn Patrol begins with the disappearance of Bahadur, a boy from Jai’s class. Jai, along with his friends Pari and Faiz, begins investigating Bahadur’s disappearance. In the meanwhile, his classmates are more focussed in playing an ‘India versus Pakistan’ match as they root for the winners of a popular singing show. Gaurav, the tilak-wearing nine-year-old boy fearlessly proclaims that the Muslim contestant’s people kill both cows and Hindus. Hearing him, Jai believes that Faiz would never kill him, showing the innocence and purity of a boy who hasn’t been sullied by religious divisions. Even when the count of missing children goes up, he doesn’t link it to their religion. It is only after a baba and a local politician raise the issue of religion that it sparks hate speech, communal violence, and religious discrimination. I like to spy on other families that are sad like ours because I want to find out if they are doing anything different to stop ghosts from clutching their bones.” The Novel Studio published alumni | The Novel Studio". City, University of London . Retrieved 19 May 2023. In this thrilling reading experience, Deepa Anappara creates a drama of childhood that is as wild as it is intimate. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is an entertaining, wonderful debut Chigozie Obioma, Booker-prize shortlisted author of An Orchestra of Minorities