A rebel and railway woman's view of India

Rahul Bhattacharya's ambitious new novel tells the story of modern India through the history of its railways, and the varying fortunes of one family

- Somak Ghoshal

Bhattacharya revisits the political and social history of modern India through the shifting fates of a family that works in the railways.

(ISTOCKPHOTO)

With a gripping memoir by Arundhati Roy, followed by a riveting novel by Kiran Desai, 2025 has turned out to be a year of comebacks for some of the best writers from India who have kept their admirers guessing their next move for a long time. To this list we must add the name of Rahul Bhattacharya, acclaimed journalist and novelist, who returns after 14 years with a lyrical new work of fiction, Railsong.

In the early 2000s, Bhattacharya earned legions of fans among sports lovers for his stellar work as a sports reporter. His first book, Pundits from Pakistan (2005), was an account of the Indian cricket team's historic tour of its neighbouring nation in 2003-04. The warm, tender and acute observations, coupled with the young writer's distinctive voice (Bhattacharya was in his early 20s at the time), introduced to readers a talent to watch out for.

That early promise blossomed into The Sly Company of People Who Care (2011), an inspired cross between a travelogue and a novel that revealed a sharp ear and eye for the peculiarities of people and places. Set in Guyana, a country filled with wily seductions, Bhattacharya's plot had a slick coolness that made the book an instant cult favourite. The story was funny, edgy and unruly, in the best sense of the word, defying grammar, logic and expectations at whim, while bristling with innumerable possibilities. It was undoubtedly an act of chutzpah that only a carefree young writer could dare to pull off.