NEW DELHI: On his way of seemingly wining the sobriquet of a ‘serial’ fiction writer, Jayaraj. V. Thoppil has come out with yet another ‘timely and topical’ fiction Mask-Gen Chronicles around the time when the entire world is grappling hard to get out of the clutches of the after-effects of Covid pandemic.
After the success of his previous fiction work ‘The Bluebook of Transitory Souls’, the amateur writer and a senior executive of a large Japanese automotive multinational firm Jayaraj. V. Thoppil has painstakingly penned down this mystery fiction giving a flavor of a digital epic throughout its narration.
Beyond a gripping murder mystery, the fiction Mask-Gen Chronicles remains as a breath holding memoir album of prolonged pandemic and confinement of unprecedented dark years. The fun of WFH and mistakes of the new normal of survival, turbulent political dramas, secret war of disruptive business magnets, and added miseries of losing nears and dears in the backdrop of a deadly pandemic year continue to hook the reader till its last chapter.
At the end, rays of hope and gleaming romance in the air!
“Waves of viral infection terrified people across the world and forced them to remain inside their houses. Back in India, where the foundation is stronger in spiritualism, someone who happened to get enlightened in a bizarre dream concluded that it is nothing but an appearance of a new avatar to correct the deteriorating values and ethics of human beings,” said Jayaraj. V. Thoppil.
Other than living characters, this digital epic introduces a microbe in the lead role and a smartphone in a supporting role. Sounds bizarre?
Yes, it might feel like that. But a patient reading of this fiction work that has weaved a story around a group of friends – rich and not-so-rich, some from metro cities like Delhi-NCR, others. Friends wear different profiles such a software executive and an aspiring writer who is discovered to be a murder at the end of the fiction, and his friend a TV journalist.
The theme of this book is a mysterious crime story plotted against the backdrop of the fiery pandemic atmosphere of the country.
About the fiction:
Everything was going on normally with Ratna’s life. The metro girl revealed her name to RATNA (27), a software executive and an aspiring writer… “ I am Virgin Mary!’’
Ratna introduced her to his friend Brahm. Mary fell in love with Brahm , love at first sight!.Ratna repented for not opening up his heart to Mary timely.
Brahm tied the knot with Mary secretly.
One day, the disgusted parents of BRAHM arrived at Satyalok, his apartment in NCR, to verify some hint received from their cousin MANAS, a media personality, about Brahm’s secret marriage with an Anglo-Indian girl MARY. Brahm managed to settle the initial conflicts with his parents with the help of close friend Ratna, a high-living software executive who hails from Capital city.
Brahm works for a manufacturing company in NCR. Mary is working as a virologist in a lab located in the capital city.
After a month-long stay, the parents decided to return to their homeland Chatra. Brahm and Mary plan to accompany their parents, but Mary had to cancel the trip at the last moment due to an official exigency. Brahm decides to follow them as planned and reaches his hometown Chatra to drop his elderly parents off.
Brahm was stuck in the small town, unable to return to his wife in NCR as a country-wide lockdown was clamped confining the people wherever they were.
When everyone terms it as an unforeseen onset of a pandemic, a young man, Brahm, dreams of it as an expected arrival of an avatar called ‘Coronavirus’, here to clean up the world of its present mess of unethical practices.
Brahm repents his wrong decision to travel to his hometown along with his parents.
Amid lockdown uncertainties! Prolonged confinement!
Brahm persuades his close friend, Ratna, an aspiring author, to write an epic on the deadly incarnation he envisions; mainly to alleviate his boredom with the unprecedented time ahead. Mary, a virologist, helps them by providing microscopic views of the invisible incarnation. Also, they have decided to take help of Manas, to get aerial views and feeds of the emerging pandemic.
However, as the epic progresses, it takes Ratna to a concealed crime file, which seems to point its finger right back at Brahm! As an entire generation is stuck in a situation masked with time and is turning into the so-called ‘Mask-Gen’, is there more to all this than meets the eye?
About the Author:
Jayaraj. V. Thoppil hails from God’s own country and presently lives in the Millenium city of India.
His debut work ‘Alcohol’, published by Frog Books, uncovers the unknown dimensions of every alcoholic, Later while launching its second edition, it was renamed ‘One Pint of Cheers’ by Tate Publishers, USA. Notion Books launched its third edition in India.
His recent offer to the literary world ‘Bluebook of Transitory Souls’, a mystery fiction, was published by Leadstart Publishing in 2020 and continues mesmerizing readers across the globe.
Currently, he serves in the foremost automobile company in the country as a Quality control professional.
His unquenched passion for creative writing and fine art finally led him to the literary world. He indulges in reading, sketching, music, and playing badminton during most of his leisure hours. He is married to Sumini Jayaraj, a proactive health professional in Ayurveda and an aspiring singer.
The book is available on all major e-commerce platforms such as Amazon.in, Amazon.com (Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.au and other international platforms of Amazon), Flipkart,Kindle (eBook) • GooglePlay (eBook), and Kobo (eBook).
Hi Jayaraj,
Congratulations for having come out with yet another literary work, that also, not in your mother-tongue.
Dr.NK Balan, MBBS, DGO, Calicut