Book Review on Rajat Chaudhuri’s The Butterfly Effect
by Dr Chetan
As the global temperature has been
consistently rising for the last few decades, weather patterns have
significantly changed, prompting environmental scientists, meteorologists,
climatologists and geologists to intensively study the factors responsible
for this change along with an analysis of its impact on humans and
biodiversity. For 2026, weather forecasting agencies globally have predicted
a prolonged ‘Super El Niño’ during autumn that, according to Prof Liz
Stephens at the University of Reading, could lead to “more people that are
living in poverty, and if you get a reduction in crop yields because of
drought or flooding, then that drives prices even higher.” (King: 2026) This
news update encouraged me to
The second section, titled “PI Kar’s
Korean Adventure,” introduces Detective Kar and his assistant, Chaitanya,
who are approached by a couple seeking their assistance in finding their
daughter, who has gone missing in South Korea. The travel agency
“Lamplighter Travels” guided several Indians on foreign tour, but only a
single tourist returns. Under these circumstances, Detective Kar takes
assistance of his friend, Abul, who works in the IB to establish a network
with India’s foreign office in South Korea. Detective Kar lands on the soil
of South Korea and meets the local police inspector Kim to proceed with the
case.
Titled “White Cloud Mountain,” the
third section opens another subplot in which the itinerary of the missing
Indians is presented sequentially from the moment they step onto a Korean
airport. The section gives brief information about the tourists and their
relationship with the travel agent. Ujaan, one of the tourists, becomes
friends with a Korean woman, Jiyoo Park, who replaces the original tour
guide. She takes the entire squad of Indian tourists to different places.
The section four titled “Magic Seed” adds another subplot to the story. It
begins with a description of the friction between Tanmoy Sen and Dr
Chaturvedi, who work at the Institute of Genetic Engineering and Medicine.
Tanmoy travels to London for his research project, where he meets Henry
David, who helps psychologically disturbed soldiers through his music.
Although Tanmoy seems to keep his project ‘SuperRice’ secret, he reveals
that, “I am too tired to discuss my work but it will do a lot of good for
millions, someday soon……my work would keep millions of undernourished people
healthy even during extreme weather conditions. They will get basic
nutrition.” (Chaudhuri: 2018, 157-159)
However, Henry warns Tanmoy about the dangers of his project as it
will tinker with nature. By the end of this section, Tanmoy finds that he is
followed by a man and a Korean girl, Jia, saves him.
The section five titled “Tony Fang’s
Lair” is one of the shortest sections and introduces a new character Tony
Fang who receives a first batch of paddy recently tested in the laboratory.
The new batch of lab-tested paddy has not yet been tried on farms. The
section six resumes the story of the section four wherein Tanmoy is injured
by a stranger. In this section, Tanmoy is admitted to a hospital by Jia. He
decides not to visit the pub again in future. After being discharged from
the hospital, Tanmoy reaches his office and finds that the magic seeds are
missing from the vault. He further comes to know that the company investing
in his “SuperRice” project wished the seeds should lack generative capacity
after a year. As soon as the harvest is completed, the seeds should not be
used again. They can germinate but will not give yields, “SuperRice to be
engineered in such a way that it would good only for one season. The farmers
should not be able save and reuse the seeds because this would mean lost
business.” (Chaudhuri: 2018, 225) This subplot introduces a new twist to the
story as it explicates the reason behind Jia rescuing Tanmoy at the
restaurant. She takes the magic seeds with her to North Korea where her
family members are kept hostage by the political regime. The section
outlines the autocratic and militarized system in North Korea which faces
tough challenges related to food security and defense. Jia serves as an
agent of North Korea and steals the seeds to resolve the problems of hunger,
malnutrition and drought. The section seven takes forwards the subplot of
section three wherein the Indian tourists travel to South Korea. Jiyoo, the
South Korean guide, takes them to a place where the North Korean migrants
have settled. The Indians are mesmerized with the natural richness of the
place, completely cut off from technology. The inhabitants live in close
proximity to nature.
The section eight gives a unique
twist to the plot as the Korean police arrest Detective Kar and interrogates
him for his connections with the Communist Party. After being released,
Detective Kar visits cybercafé in Seoul and comes to know that his assistant
has been kidnapped. The novel ends with the revelation of how the two North
Korean women engaged in the scheme of taking the Indian tourists to the same
location where the migrated North Koreans had settled. In the end, it is
discovered that the seeds genetically modified by Tanmoy cause disease and
illness instead of addressing the concerns of food security and
malnutrition.
Rajat Chaudhuri has woven a
compelling narrative depicting multiple challenges confronted by humanities
in contemporary times with specific focus on how ecological changes
resulting from human intervention, lead to hunger, famine, disease and
crime. The novel highlights unprecedented growth of agricultural science,
particularly genetically modified seeds that demonstrate resilience to
extreme drought and flood conditions and ensure food security.
Simultaneously, it interrogates the intense connection between global
capitalism and scientific innovation. Politically liberal and economically
capitalist countries have provided amicable conditions to corporations for
investment in agribusinesses, enabling multinational companies to increase
their capital by making farmers increasingly reliant on genetically modified
seeds for higher yields.
Besides, politically autocratic
countries are presented as facing resource scarcity and technological
backwardness, leading to the discontentment of people. The suppression of
rebels voices and state’s inability to meet public requirements compel
individuals to undertake secret missions to acquire scientific innovations
from technologically advanced countries. Although the author primarily
captures the conflict between two politically opposite entities, Chaudhuri
exhibits global implication of this struggle. Other countries are also
affected due to global interconnectedness and mutual dependence. Hence, the
narrative presents ecological destruction, technological backwardness and
political rivalry as transnational issues shaping the fate of humanity.
Title:
The Butterfly Effect
Author: Rajat Chaudhuri
Available:
Amazon