On a trip to the hills, away from the hustle bustle of city life, you feel coaxed to space out, ponder and peep into those corners of your heart and mind that you haven’t done in years. Former diplomat Rajeev Dogra’s Second Night is about this journey within and without, past playing hide and seek with present. There are three main characters in the novel, Sat, Shiv, Shyam and Sati, her presence always felt, even if she isn’t there physically. The three lads grew up together, sharing a brotherly bond, full of beans, of muted tension and one-upmanship.
Sat carries the horrors of Partition in him and the days of penury that his family led as refugees in Delhi. Shiv and Shyam are brothers, kids of Mrs Keeling, who once reigned the social cricles in Mussoorie. Sati is the love of Sat’s life, whom he met in college and their love story becomes the talk of the town. As things go, Sati and Sat separate for some reasons.
When the three buddies meet first in Delhi and then in Mussoorie to console each other after Mrs Keeling’ death and wrap up property details, they get talking over drinks. Languorous and aggressive in turns, the conversation between the trio, scoops out those details which they had not revealed before. The narrative is picturesque and you can imagine the two hefty English brothers and Sat, now a pale shadow of himself, often taking to the bottle to drown his sorrows. However, since the plot is mainly about swapping stories, the pace of the storytelling often slows down.
But since you are in the hills, with clouds hovering above you, you have to stop and stare. All the twists, turns and hairpin bends that one encounters on the hilly terrain are also present in Second Night. The climax will make the journey worthwhile.
