Inspector Ghote Goes By Train (H R F Keating)

Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID has landed what seems to be a straightforward assignment. All he has to do was to go to Calcutta and escort a notorious confidence man back to Bombay to stand trial. But if there’s an easy way to do it and a roundabout way to do it, trust our friend to take the long route. Here it takes the form of a 2-day train journey from Bombay to Calcutta across the Indian sub-continent which Ghote hopes to enjoy to the full. However, his well laid out plans are thwarted by his companions – a glib talker, two hippies and their guru, and an Indian Railways official. Halfway through his onward journey he also gets a telegram that puts an unexpected spoke in his plans. As the train carries him and his companions closer to Calcutta, Ghote realises that perhaps the antidote to his troubles could be amongst his travelling companions themselves. And no sooner has he reached Calcutta than he must start on the return journey over the same route, and one that has its own perils.

Keating has marvellously sketched out this story over two train journeys. Inspector Ghote may come across as a bungling clueless character initially but his doggedness and a late-awakening sense finally get him his man.

A nice story set in the never-a-dull-moment Indian Railways environment. No great mystery here but like the steady pace of the great train that cuts across the subcontinent, so too are we kept entertained by this story to a steady soothing rhythm.

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Inspector Ghote Trusts His Heart

Review of H R F Keating’s Inspector Ghote Trusts His Heart

Its hard not to like Inspector Ganesh Ghote of the Bombay CID. He is unlike the traditional picture of a Bombay policeman – he is averse to using force where tact can get him results, he is dogged in his pursuit and at getting the right result and he is a rebel who pursues the criminal for the sake of getting justice done. In this outing, Inspector Ghote is assigned the task of advising a businessman who’s son has been the attempt of a kidnapping. The kidnappers were successful but they ended up with the wrong child – the son of a tailor who does the laundry for the businessman’s household. Ghote’s efforts are directed towards retrieving the child, even if that means initiating a dialogue with the kidnappers & paying part of the ransom, but this goes against the grain of his superior Superintendent Karandikar – the “tiger” of the force – who has been made to oversee the case. The story does drag a bit in the middle, when Mr Desai – the businessman & personal friend of the Commissioner – is made to run around the city trying to pay the kidnappers, but the overall narrative of Ghote going against the instructions of Karandikar to apply his brains in solving the case is a fairly engrossing read. Inspector Ghote’s successful apprehension of the mastermind and the discovery of the kidnapped child, only to find cold water poured over his efforts very quickly by the arrival on the spot of Superintendent Karandikar is typical of how Keating has built up the character of Ghote, someone who is always condemned to remain in the shadows, with his good efforts going unrecognised.

Keating’s series of Inspector Ganesh Ghote is a poignant look at everyday life in this bustling metropolis for an honest policeman, who has to deal not only with criminal elements but also influences from all sides as he strives in his individual effort to maintain justice in the city.

🙂

 

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