ISLAND

by Sujit Saraf

Nirmal Chandra Mattoo has lived in Port Blair, in the Andamans, for thirty
years. An acknowledged expert on the tribes of the islands, particularly the
Jarawas and the Sentinelese, he now runs a souvenir shop selling fake tribal
artifacts to unsuspecting tourists. In the shop, he hides dark secrets and a
long history with the people of the islands.
One day, an American missionary appears in Mattoo’s shop and seeks his help
to visit North Sentinel Island, where he hopes to bring the Sentinelese tribals
to Jesus. Mattoo agrees, but also has deep misgivings, because the Sentinelese
are among the last uncontacted people on earth; their stone-age civilization
has survived in complete isolation for thousands of years, and their hostility
has made their island a zone forbidden to outsiders.
Undeterred, the missionary sets off on his mission, and Mattoo, as his guide,
finds himself embroiled in a situation from which there can be no escape, as
the fate of the Sentinelese, his own fate, and that of the Indian State all come
together in a catastrophic denouement.
Island is a searing examination of nationhood, citizenship, the lot of those who
live on the margins, and what it means to be Indian today.

222 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 5, 2024

About the author

Sujit Saraf received an engineering degree from IIT Delhi and a Ph.D. from Berkeley. He has conducted research for NASA, taught at IIT and worked as a space scientist in California. When not at his desk, he runs Naatak, an Indian theatre company in America for which he writes and directs plays and films.