It sounds like the kind of story that could only exist in fiction. An Indian man in his late 40s, part martial artist, part journalist and fully committed to breaking outlandish world records such as “the most number of concrete blocks broken on the groin at once”, sets himself a new target: to have 50 baseball bats broken over his body.
Only this strange protagonist in Booker-shortlisted author Stephen Kelman's remarkable new novel, Man on Fire, is largely real.
Bibhuti Bhushan Nayak does exist – in fact he and Kelman, a British author in his late 30s, struck up an unlikely friendship over email many years ago.
“Genuinely, he changed my life,” says Kelman. “He’s such an engaging, inspiring character.”
In fact, Kelman began work on Man On Fire before his highly praised debut, Pigeon English (2011), his moving story of a Ghanaian child in an English inner-city housing estate who tries to solve a murder.
While scratching around for ideas for screenplays, Kelman happened to come across the 2008 documentary TV series Paul Merton In India. In it, British comedian Merton was both bemused and in awe after he was invited to repeatedly kick Nayak in the groin.
“I was instinctively drawn to Nayak on a deep level,” Kelman says. “Here was a guy who, on the face of it, was doing something so bizarre and outlandish, and seemed to be deriving some kind of enjoyment from it. And yet, far from thinking he’s a clown, I wanted to understand what motivated him, what made him tick. I wanted to find the dignity and nobility behind what he does.”
It's this search for dignity and humanity that is at the beating heart of Man on Fire.
Another author might well have opted to write a straight biography – after all, Nayak lived on the streets when he arrived in Mumbai and ended up a minor celebrity.
But Kelman felt that by taking a real-life story and then speculating further, he could find a deeper and more universal truth about the human condition.
“And Nayak was absolutely fine with that from the start,” he says. “I promised that within a fictional story I would represent him truthfully and honourably, which was a leap of faith for him, not least because I hadn’t had anything published at that point. Nayak ‘introspected’, as he likes to say, and agreed. And I’m so glad he did.”
In the novel, Nayak is attempting to beat pain through “breathing, meditation, training, diet, and the grace of the Almighty”. The reason he attempts these records, he says, is to tell the people that “if they endure the pain they will reach the happiness that comes after”.
He tells this to John Lock, a 60-year-old Englishman who flees the drudgery of life in his native country to help Nayak achieve his latest record. This is where the fiction of the story is most apparent – although Kelman says it was heavily influenced by a few anguished months of his life during which his brother died of cancer and his father was diagnosed with the disease.
“All the characters in the book are in some way trying to immortalise themselves, make an imprint on the world,” he says.
“John lives an unfulfilled life where he hasn’t taken any chances and therefore hasn’t achieved anything remarkable. When he finds out his days might be numbered, he panics, so he sets about helping Nayak.
“As for Nayak, he told me that if you’re Indian, you’re doomed to being obsolete and overlooked, fated to be anonymous in a country of a billion-plus people where you’re only really respected if you’re a cricketer or a Bollywood actor.
“So there are people looking for recognition and acknowledgement, which is where record breaking comes in – it’s a democratic way of rising above the crowd.”
Yet, Nayak never attempts any of these outlandish records simply for 15 minutes of fame. With his background in martial arts, physical fitness and meditation, he’s serious about sharing his philosophy with his community at large and ensuring that he has a positive effect on the people around him.
“He’s an activist in every sense of the word,” says Kelman.
All of which will make the novel's reception in India interesting to see, given that Man on Fire is by a white, thirtysomething author from Luton in England.
There are certainly no grounds for concern that there might be any caricaturing at play here – to make completely sure of that, Kelman forwarded his and Nayak’s email conversations to an editor in India.
“She read them and said: ‘I get it, he is exactly as he is on the page,’” he says with a laugh.
And as for Nayak himself?
“Well, waiting for his response to the final draft was awful. I was terrified,” says Kelman. “And then he sent me a brief email saying: ‘Love it. Too emotional to talk.’”
Which, essentially, is just about the most accurate six-word review you’re likely to see this summer.
artslife@thenational.ae
SERIES INFO
Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi Sunshine Series
All matches at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Test series
1st Test: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets
2nd Test: Wednesday, 10 March – Sunday, 14 March
Play starts at 9.30am
T20 series
1st T20I: Wednesday, 17 March
2nd T20I: Friday, 19 March
3rd T20I: Saturday, 20 March
TV
Supporters in the UAE can watch the matches on the Rabbithole channel on YouTube
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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Previous men's records
- 2:01:39: Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) on 16/9/19 in Berlin
- 2:02:57: Dennis Kimetto (KEN) on 28/09/2014 in Berlin
- 2:03:23: Wilson Kipsang (KEN) on 29/09/2013 in Berlin
- 2:03:38: Patrick Makau (KEN) on 25/09/2011 in Berlin
- 2:03:59: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 28/09/2008 in Berlin
- 2:04:26: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 30/09/2007 in Berlin
- 2:04:55: Paul Tergat (KEN) on 28/09/2003 in Berlin
- 2:05:38: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 14/04/2002 in London
- 2:05:42: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 24/10/1999 in Chicago
- 2:06:05: Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) 20/09/1998 in Berlin
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4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
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On sale: Now
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
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Current number of staff: More than 150
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
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Not Dark Yet
Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer
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WWE Evolution results
- Trish Stratus and Lita beat Alicia Fox and Mickie James in a tag match
- Nia Jax won a battle royal, eliminating Ember Moon last to win
- Toni Storm beat Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic
- Natalya, Sasha Banks and Bayley beat The Riott Squad in a six-woman tag match
- Shayna Baszler won the NXT Women’s title by defeating Kairi Sane
- Becky Lynch retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match
- Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women’s title by beating Nikki Bella
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
'The Lost Daughter'
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson
Rating: 4/5
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Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan