Writer Sidin Vadukut talks about seeking inspiration from the Spanish flu, research involved in penning a medical thriller, and the perils of WhatsApp information
Mumbai international airport are relevant to the plot
At the launch of The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, author Amitav Ghosh spoke about how unprepared Mumbai is in the event of a natural calamity. He painted a bleak but detailed picture of the outcome - the inability of an already-burgeoning city to deal with the ensuing chaos. Sidin Vadukut's upcoming medical thriller, Bombay Fever (Simon & Schuster India), paints a similar picture. Except here, the calamity is a mysterious and contagious disease that spreads quickly and condemns patients to a gruesome death.
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"Everyone who has read the book has felt uncomfortable, but it is a plausible situation," says Vadukut, over a call from his home in London. The book is a departure from the office culture and humour that we encountered in his Dork series. "I'm excited because it is a new book. You can never get enough of complete public humiliation," he says with a laugh.
Cusrow Baug
The birth of an epidemic
Bombay Fever is the story of a group of investigators - health officials, doctors and civic servants, who attempt to make sense of an unknown disease that is killing people. It starts in the courtyard of a Hindu temple in Switzerland, and in three months' time, spreads to Mumbai.
Vadukut has always wanted to write about the history of Bombay. "What intrigued me was that countless events in world history have cast a shadow over Bombay," he shares. Two years ago, he wrote a column on the Spanish flu in India. "It was devastating, killed millions yet no one took cognisance of it. Estimates put the loss between six to 13 million," he adds. When the article was printed, many wrote to him saying that they had never heard about it.
"I asked myself - what if something like this happens again? I figured the best way to do this was not write about the mechanics of the outbreak but how people react to it," he says. Vadukut knew his book had to be realistic and educating. Coincidentally, this year also marks 100 years of the pandemic.
Bombay Fever is told from the perspective of many characters - a journalist interested in getting hits for her website, a lead rapid responder for outbreaks, a social medical officer, a chef running a restaurant on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, small-time doctors and of course, the chief minister of the state and prime minister. The story flits back and forth in time, starting three months before the epidemic outbreak.
Haffkine Institute
Behind the fever
Vadukut's research threw up interesting points, many of which find their way into the story. "A comment in a document on the epidemic was that the first indication was when absenteeism in offices started shooting up. It was fascinating to see that it took absentees to realise a problem. I read that when the news first broke, people would run away from Bombay and carry the flu to a village, and you would never hear of that place again. When the Surat plague hit, one of the first signs was medical staff vanishing from the city and depleting stocks of medicines," he says.
In the book, as the epidemic hits the city, panic ensues. Patients and families throng hospitals, pharmacies are attacked, corporate offices see a dip in attendance, and people - including top-ranking politicians - flee. The biggest chaos is caused by WhatsApp. "We've seen this happen in the last few years. When people don't have enough information, they turn to home remedies and purported truths," he says.
Sidin Vadukut
While Vadukut has tried to stay true to how hospitals, clinics, social workers and the government react to the outbreak, he has introduced a few innovations - a health programme based on a small social neighbourhood model, sophisticated sample storage system and a top-level response protocol.
Is Mumbai or any city ready to deal with an epidemic? "I don't think any city can. We have not built cities; we have let them grow. They are managed badly and eventually, this will come back to bite you. We have to stop seeking solutions from New Delhi. Bombay will have to improve on its own," he says.
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