‘I wanted to retain the comedic value of violence’: Tanuj Solanki on writing ‘Manjhi’s Mayhem’

The sixth in the series of podcast interviews with the authors and translators longlisted for the 2023 JCB Prize for Literature.

Oct 9, 2023 - 14:30

‘I wanted to retain the comedic value of violence’: Tanuj Solanki on writing ‘Manjhi’s Mayhem’

Tanuj Solanki’s novel, Manjhi’s Mayhem, has been longlisted for the 2023 JCB Prize for Literature. Scroll spoke to Ram about the origins, themes, and writing of this novel.

In this novel, Sewaram Manjhi works as a security guard outside a posh Bombay café. On the surface, he’s not unlike millions of invisible Indians who make the city tick, but there is a difference: he holds rage in his heart, and he will go to any length to snatch a chunk of the good life. Enter Santosh, a hostess at the restaurant across the street. A damsel in distress, Santosh has a strange request for Manjhi, and far be it from him to say no. What follows is tabaahi – mayhem – as Manjhi finds himself caught in a web of lies and deceit and on the trail of a bag full of money that will lead to broken noses, bloody heads, sex, seduction, and murder. If he succeeds, Manjhi might finally discover what it means to be in control of one’s destiny in a land where birth determines fate.