Actor Dev Anand singing Jayen To Jayen Kahan, in Navketan's film Taxi Driver, came to mind while leafing through branding expert Kiran Khalap's newly released Black River Run (Amaryllis publishers, R299, 184 pages) which is centered around a nearing 60 cabbie, driving a kaali peeli in a Mumbai pre-dating the advent of Olas and Ubers. Anand's Mangal and Khalap's Buva both mean well and try to lead positive lives, but get trapped in big city excesses. At the outset, both protagonists are comparable; they evoke respect. But, as Buva's narrative unfolds and his violent caste-ridden past is bared, his allegiance to 17th century saint Samarth Ramdas becomes a bit of a riddle. This columnist appreciates Buva's present, but is unable to envision the possibility of his deep identification with a saint.

Buva is a BDD Worli chawl resident who has migrated from remote Khairlanji; his pregnant mother was killed by upper caste men; he is haunted by bad memories; but he relies on Ramdas Swami's treatise Dasbodh (a manual for life) for answers to tricky situations. As a journalist, who has followed state caste politics and the 2006 Khairlanji massacre, I was wondering about the likely guides-mentors an untouchable orphan (who has fled to Mumbai in tense conditions) would fall back on in the contemporary context. I was looking for a more convincing backdrop for Buva's unlikely fondness for a known upper caste idol. While one acknowledges the fact that saints rise above parochial considerations, there is always a reason why their disciple base flourishes in respective social circles and geographies. In Buva's case, the reason is not clear. It is another fact that, even as a riddle, Buva is likeable. When jailed for a murder that he did not commit, he lives up to the quintessence of mokshabhimaan… ya naav bhram (the pride associated with the idea of liberation is an illusion). Like his mentor, he pays extreme importance to physical fitness, doing Surya Namaskars at the crack of dawn, even in prison. Khalap's fluid prose catches each namaskar with exemplary elasticity.