Sex, sleaze and some Shakespeare

Ranbir Sidhu's new novel tries too hard to be edgy and risqué at the expense of credibility and nuance in the plot

- Somak Ghoshal

Ranbir Sidhu's new novel is told by an unlikely narrator, an unnamed hustler and petty criminal living in Delhi, who spouts Dante and Shakespeare at opportune moments. In fact, the Bard makes an appearance in the oddest of times in the book. Early on in Night in Delhi, Mr Harbans Singh Ahluwalia Esq. (called "The Big Man" by the narrator), who is later revealed to be the mastermind behind a scamming business, decides to call the narrator Ariel and his cross-dressing bar-singer male lover Jaggi, Caliban.

The peculiarity of the meeting between this trio is heightened by the fact that it takes place inside a gurudwara, at the funeral of Singh's father no less, where the two boys have sneaked in to steal and to eat the meal being served. Although the dead man's son finds out what the two are up to, he lets them go after extracting a promise from the narrator to meet him the next day, ostensibly for paid sex. As it turns out, there's more to The Big Man's plan than just scoring a hooker.