Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

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Housham, Jane (2 August 2013). "Once Upon a Time There Was a Traveller: Asham Award-winning Stories edited by Kate Pullinger – review". The Guardian . Retrieved 1 October 2020.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara | Goodreads Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara | Goodreads

I also would have liked a bit more of the supernatural elements that the book only ever touches upon—there’s plenty of talk about djinns and stories about particular djinns who protect people, but they end up having little to no bearing on the actual plot. Congratulations: Bridport Prize winners revealed". Bridport and Lyme Regis News. 19 October 2017 . Retrieved 1 October 2020. It’s not often that you stumble upon a mystery narrated—and investigated—by a grade schooler. Even less common is such a tale as masterfully wrought as the 2020 novel Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line . Jai, age 9, lives in a basti, a slum-like settlement, near the end of Delhi’s purple metro line, and loves reality police shows. He joins forces with Pari, a bookworm, and Faiz, a hard worker, to explore what, exactly, happened to their missing classmate. But then other children start to disappear, and the story grows darker. With great care, author Deepa Anappara intersperses chapters told from the perspectives of the missing children. A moving and confident novel about the preciousness of life. The storytelling is distinctive and immersive Nikesh Shukla, author and editor of The Good Immigrant While investigating a series of missing children taken from an unnamed Indian slum, Jai and his friends Pari and Faiz, the central protagonists in Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, come across many pictures and iconography depicting Hindu gods. Here are some brief insights into the mythology surrounding a handful of these deities.Deepa: I am studying for a Creative-Critical Writing PhD at the moment, as part of which I am working on a historical novel. The American Dirty Pair comics by Toren Smith and Adam Warren are some of the best comics of the 90s... We would love to see how you use the reading guide on social media using #DjinnPatrol and @VintageBooks. Jai is a wonderful narrator, fully imagined and in Anappara's hands, his world takes shape with care yet without sentiment... Anappara took me effortlessly into the alien world of a slum in an Indian metropolis, and helped me to see it through a child's eyes Nilanjana Roy, Financial Times WINNER OF THE EDGAR® AWARD • ONE OF TIME’S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line — Deepa Anappara Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line — Deepa Anappara

I like to spy on other families that are sad like ours because I want to find out if they are doing anything different to stop ghosts from clutching their bones.” It’s based on a chilling true story: as many as 180 children go missing in India each day. Before writing her debut novel, Anappara spent years working as a journalist and learning about the disappearances firsthand. For its crucial yet overlooked subject matter and jewel-like prose, Djinn Patrol received widespread praise, winning the 2021 Edgar Award for Best Novel. — Laura Zornosa As Jai’s family watches television, they see news of inconsequential events but nothing on the several missing children from their slum. And the more these disappearances are ignored, the more children go missing. The book draws attention to the large number of children who go missing in India daily. Did you know close to 200 children go missing there each day? Jai takes us along with him to school, among his small group of friends, within his home in the basti with his loving parents, and chachis who keep an eye on him, too, and in the local bazaar. One by one, children in the basti disappear, and everyone becomes more unsettled, rightfully so, seeking police help with little avail. The author’s insightful note at the end is a must-read for why she wrote the book and its importance to her. Deepa Anappara takes us inside urban India with astonishing specificity, into a funny and heartbreaking child’s world of wonder and cruelty. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is addictive and unforgettable. Once you’re in Jai’s neighbourhood you don't want to leave Todd Babiak, author of The Empress of Idaho

Media Reviews

EP: You were previously an award-winning journalist in India. How difficult was it to make the leap from writing as a journalist to writing fiction? In an unnamed sprawling Indian city Jai (9 years old), life in the slums is consumed with watching the TV that is the centrepiece of his home, especially detective serials; fellow Muslim pal Faiz is a huge fan of the supernatural especially Djinns; and their female nerdy buddy Pari, is the one focussed on using her brains to escape the slums via education. The 'Djinn Patrol' comes into existence when led by Jai they seek to explore their city to try and investigate what becomes a series of missing children! however! by the end, i found that i had warmed up to the story and characters. i was enjoying the book much more in the final stretch than i did at the beginning. so i guess thats something! i also really like the authors note at the end to understand her inspiration behind the book. Ahead of the publication of her much-anticipated debut novel, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, Novel Studio alumna Deepa Anappara took time out of her busy schedule to talk to Novel Studio Course Director Emily Pedder about the inspiration behind the book. Anappara’s excellent debut novel is written from the POVs of children about children. As an Indian journalist, Anappara covered the deeply disturbing tragedy of children disappearing at the rate of nearly 180 per day. She felt that the personal stories of these children were getting lost amidst the appalling statistics. Thus, she wrote this novel primarily from the POV of Jai.

An interview with Deepa Anappara – City Short Courses An interview with Deepa Anappara – City Short Courses

Created from whole cloth, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is a richly textured rendition of a world little seen in Indian literature. There is no desire to smooth and tidy in fiction what is untidy in life, but instead there is a pay off for the reader in a story that is as quietly troubling as it is convincing Mridula Koshy, author of Not Only the Things That Have Happened a b Dutta, Amrita (23 February 2020). "For her debut novel, Deepa Anappara takes on the task of writing about poverty in a child's voice". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020 . Retrieved 1 October 2020. A stunningly original tale. I stayed up late every night until I finished, reluctant to part from Deepa Anappara’s heart-stealing characters Etaf Rum, New York Times bestselling author of A Woman Is No Man In Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, journalist and author, Deepa Anappara, has the reader firmly on the ground in an Indian basti, with its sights, sounds, and smells of the yummy food wafting through the neighborhood, and all of it is through the eyes of the lovable child narrator, Jai. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is a moving and confident novelabout the preciousness of life.The storytelling isdistinctive and immersive.” —Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good ImmigrantThe prose perfectly captures all the characters' youthful voices, complete with some Hindi and Urdu terms, whose meanings, if not immediately obvious, become clear with repetition. Anappara's complex and moving tale showcases a strong talent. It starts to feel repetitive; the book follows a pattern: another child disappears, the basti reacts, the police are indifferent, Jai and his friends try to investigate (now staying closer to the basti but with very limited success) and we get a section from the viewpoint of the disappeared child (but with no real hints as to what happened to them). For me, the most powerful chapters were “This Story Will Save Your Life” which were mostly stories of the djinns and other beliefs regarding wandering children. My favorite scene was when Jai and Pari went to the railway station. Because of the title and blurb, I have to admit that I thought a big portion of this novel would take place around the railway. However, there was only one big scene there in the beginning. I wasn’t too pleased with the ending, but I respect the underlying messages delivered to the reader through that conclusion. Jai’s] remarkable voice retains a stubborn lightness, a will to believe in the possibility of deliverance in this fallen world.” — The Washington Post A writer at heart with a fondness for well-told stories, Louis Skye is always looking for a way to escape the planet, whether through comic books, films, television, books, or video games. E always has an eye out for the subversive and champions diversity in media.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line: Mystery and Thriller Books

Anappara spent her early life in Palakkad, Kerala, India. [10] She is an Indian writer and journalist. Anappara worked as a journalist in India, reporting on social issues in the state of Gujarat, and in Delhi and Mumbai. Her work has focused on studying the effects of violence and poverty, particularly on young people. [10] Anappara wrote the novel while pursuing a master's degree in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. [11] Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line was originally written as part of her dissertation for her Master of Arts degree. [6] The manuscript and publication rights were sold at the Frankfurt Book Fair, [10] and the novel was the subject of a "hard-fought auction" between multiple publishers, ultimately being sold to Chatto & Windus and Random House. [12]This dazzling debut follows three children investigating a series of disappearances in the slums of India. The story is told primarily from Jai’s point of view, and he was a terrific child, but then there are also chapters from the point of view of each of the missing children. So, I liked the descriptions and the voices, but I’m just not that crazy about child detectives. Overall, I found the book both educational and moving. A major strength of the book is Anappara’s grip on (vivid) detail and her masterful use of language. Effortlessly, she draws pictures of contrast — of poverty and richness; of squalor and spotlessness; of deprivation and plenty.” —Aradhika Sharma, Tribune Anappara also delves into the misogyny and racism that still plague much of India. When 16-year-old Aanchal disappears, the men and women of the basti don't offer her the same compassion as they do the prepubescent abductees. Instead, she is blamed for her own disappearance and labeled randi (whore), based on nothing but gossip and ill-informed rumors. "Her boyfriend is as old as her grandfather...But worse, he's Muslim," one woman comments. "Who knows how many boyfriends a girl like that has?" says another. Journalist and author Deepa Anappara draws our attention to the horrors and tragedy of the terrifyingly enormous numbers of children that go missing in India, a matter that is largely met by indifference in mainstream Indian society. The impoverished slums and community are depicted with an astonishing vibrancy as the people go about their daily lives and the challenges they face, lying within sight of the wealthy and powerful to whom the poor are invisible and a blight on their landscape. Annappara provides a pertinent social, political, cultural and economic commentary on modern India, with its huge wealth inequalities, class, sexism, crime, police corruption, abuse, exploitation, and religious tensions and divisions. Interspersed within the narrative are the folklore and superstitions that abound in the community, such as the Djinns.