'The Assassin's Song' unveils at the Canada House

New Delhi, Aug 14 (UNI) The Assassin's Song, a new novel from two-time Giller-winning author M G Vassanji, set in India and North America, which opens in the 1960s in a village in Western India, the site of the thirteenth-century Sufi shrine of Pirbaag, was launched by the High Commission of Canada along with Penguin Books India here yesterday.

Karsan Dargawalla is next in line after his father to assume the lordship of the shrine. But Karsan longs to be ''just ordinary'' to be a great cricketer and play for his country and, at the urging of a truck driver, to learn more and more about the world.

Finally when a personal tragedy strikes in Canada, and Pirbaag is devastated by communal violence, he is drawn back across 30 years of separation and silence to discover what, if anything, is left for him in India.

Deputy High Commissioner of Canada, Kenneth Macartney, hosted the evening that witnessed the presence of many socialites and other admirers of Vassanji's writing. Vassanji is highly respected in literary circles in Canada, with many accolades to his name including (twice) the Giller Prize. Described by Wikipedia as "an African-Indian-Canadian novelist", he was born in Kenya, grew up in Tanzania and has been a resident of Canada.

The book which has already been declared as Vassanji's best piece till date has many eminent personalities in its fan list which includes Khushwant Singh and Shashi Tharoor.

Khushwant Singh describes it as an 'important book'. "Vassanji writes about faith and conflict like no other. His prose is impeccable", he adds. The book describes an evocation of the physical and emotional landscape of a man caught between filial obligation and personal yearning between ancient and modern. The protagonist of the story is an estranged son of the Saheb of Pirbaag, a mysterious Sufi saint.

To add more Sufism to the ambience, the launch was followed by a Sufi music performance by Gulfam Sabri. With so many people of foreign origin around, Sufi music was still able to make the people tap their feet.

The book will be launched in the US and Canada on 21st of this month. Vassanji will be leaving India for his tour to various countries to promote his book. Now that the book is out, it remains to be seen whether this novel of grand historical sweep and personal drama can savour the interest of readers.

UNI