Upamanyu Chatterjee declares at the very outset that this novel is inspired by his friend Fabrizio Senesi’s life. The real Senesi becomes the fictitious Senesi here, but well, as Chatterjee warns: “This is a true story. That is to say, like many true stories, it is a work of fiction.”
And so, we meet 19-year-old Lorenzo Senesi in Aquilina, Italy. One fateful morning his Vespa collides with a Fiat — all concur that it’s a miracle he survived. While recovering in hospital, he explores the meaning of life, and decides what he wants to do with his.
Lorenzo is not hasty, though. He keeps his preferred vocation a secret till he finishes fine arts at college, his apprenticeship term at a bakery, and also learns physiotherapy because that’s what got him back to his feet again — besides, it’s always good to have practical skills.
When he’s 22, he announces his decision to become a Benedictine monk, and is met with tears and jeers by his family. His mother resorts to emotional blackmail, but Lorenzo is made of sterner stuff. He moves to an abbey in Padua and as he learns about being a Benedictine, we learn too, because Chatterjee tells us about the practice in the most unboring manner possible — you may even be tempted to holiday at a monastery! But be warned, it’s hard work: Apart from studying (lots) and praying (lots), labour is a huge part of it all (lots, lots, lots!). Sadly, while the drinking of wine is permitted, it is limited (read very, very little).
When you start thinking that Lorenzo would be happily locked up forever, the world starts opening up for him in ways he never imagined. He spends sometime in the UK, and then he’s off to a mission house in Bangladesh, where he exchanges his black cassocks for lungis and tees.
The Bangladesh section is predictable white-man-in-third-world stuff in many ways. However, the expat community Lorenzo mingles with doesn’t party wildly together but does deep and meaningful things instead. Lorenzo accomplishes a lot, but then has to make a difficult choice: To continue as a monk, or live the life of a family man.
This novel is enjoyable all through, and also reads like an engaging travelogue. It’s liberally sprinkled with witty asides, like this for example: “Mary introduces Lorenzo to Father Sherwood who looks like a football fan, the sort who gives the game a bad name.” While most of the minor characters have delightful little quirks, Chatterjee should have worked on the protagonist a little harder: Lorenzo is a fascinating man and absolutely deserves to be fleshed out more!
Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life
By Upamanyu Chatterjee
Speaking Tiger
pp. 318; Rs 699
