Making ripples

Vasudhendra, author of the acclaimed novel Tejo Tungabhadra, says he always wanted to look at history from the commoner’s perspective

- PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

When Vasco da Gama found a sea route to India, all of Lisbon in Portugal danced for joy. King Manuel of Portugal could not contain his excitement at the prospect of the glory the new route would bring him. The ships were full of spices from India—pepper, cinnamon and ginger—heavy ivory and fine silks. The formerly poor king was now among the wealthiest rulers of Europe. Ironically, the prosperity of Lisbon steals the joy of the lovers Gabriel and Bella in Vasudhendra’s novel Tejo Tungabhadra—Tributaries of Time, as Gabriel decides to set sail to India with General Alonso de Albuquerque’s fleet to make his fortune and escape the ridicule of Bella’s father. In faraway Vijayanagara (Karnataka), the young couple Hampamma and Keshava are going through similar tribulations due to rigid traditions and religious violence.

Tejo Tungabhadra, published by Penguin and set in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, tells the tale of these four lovers set against the backdrop of social, religious and political upheaval in Portugal and India. The rivers Tejo and Tungabhadra bear silent witness to the unspooling tale of love, ambition, suffering and greed. The novel has set a benchmark for historical fiction in the country with its sweeping grandeur, deep research and complex plot.