The “in-betweens” and the “hatadaiva”: Oscillating, fantastic realities in Tashan Mehta’s The Liar’s Weave

Abstract

This article explores the idea of movement, namely oscillation, in Tashan Mehta’s The Liar’s Weave (2017). I trace this idea through an oscillation of locations (as “real” and “unreal”), of language (as familiar terms and as invented terms), and of free will (against a fixed destiny). Specifically, I explore how Zahan Merchant, the novel’s protagonist, is intricately engaged with all three manifestations of oscillation. With his unique ability to verbally lie new realities into existence, Zahan is able to move between the real and unreal, the known and the unknown, as well as act as an agent of free will within a system that precludes such agency. There is an overarching interest in the novel’s employment of the speculative genre — primarily articulated through Zahan’s ability to lie new realities into being and through the wild forest of Vidroha — although the focus of this article is not on arguing a specific case for the novel as speculative fiction. Instead, through a close reading of the text and with a focus on the idea of oscillation, I argue that the novel negotiates familiar as well as unfamiliar literary ground in relation to Indian writing in English and in turn, relates to the Indian post-millennial contemporary.