Hope Island: Review Of ‘Corals Bloom Again’

Rupinder Brar’s debut novel, Corals Bloom Again (Konark Publishers), is set on Mizinga, a fictional island nation off the coast of East Africa. Brar, a senior bureaucrat, was born in Delhi and raised between Delhi and Dar es Salaam. In the Acknowledgements section, Brar tells readers that this novel is a “way of giving back to a land that was our home for almost six years, that blessed us with enduring friendships and countless happy memories”.

Maya Mehta, the protagonist of Corals Bloom Again, is an idealistic young Indian professional. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she is bequeathed a piece of property by a man called Odumbe Mbaya, a resident of Mizinga, and a total stranger to her. Mbaya’s solicitors write to Maya to inform her of his death. They make it clear that she must travel to the island to claim the property, which happens to be a significant part of Mbaya’s inheritance. Maya’s journey to Mizinga opens up chapters from her family’s past that she knew nothing about. Once she lands on the island, she also becomes aware of the ecologically devastating practice of blast fishing that is wrecking the island’s fragile ecosystem, which is already reeling from the impact of climate change.

 As Maya learns more about her connection to Mbaya and the threads from the past that bind her family to him, she gains a new perspective on the anti-colonial struggle, and the course of Indian and East African history. The island, surrounded by the shimmering Indian Ocean, is a place of incredible natural beauty. Maya’s interactions with local residents help her understand its workings better. Vincent, a photographer documenting marine life and the human side of the coast, introduces himself to her. Charming and easygoing, Vin is good company. But Maya soon discovers that he is also a committed crusader who helps marine conservation NGOs, presenting them with photographic evidence of how blast fishing kills “everything in a given area, not just the fish they are after…The coral, the vegetation, the whole ecosystem.” She is shocked by the scale of destruction and feels compelled to take up the crusade against the marine cartel which is focused exclusively on commercial gain.

Malcolm Brandon, the son of Mbaya’s close friend, is not as easygoing as Vincent. In the beginning, he is hostile towards Maya, and openly resentful of the fact that Mbaya left his house (a historic spot from where revolutionaries fought for Mizinga’s independence from British rule) to an outsider. Mbaya used to think of Brandon as the grandson he never had and yet, he chose to bequeath his beloved house to Maya, who has flown down from her home in India “expecting little more than escape and adventure”. The tension between Brandon and Maya spices up the narrative. As the days pass and the two of them start to understand Mbaya’s reasoning better (thanks to the letters he left behind), the hostility melts away. The dynamic between Maya and Brandon, and the way their relationship evolves over time, are convincingly sketched.

Maya’s grandmother is the crucial link that connects Indian and East African history in the novel’s tapestry. Maya learns, step by step, how her grandmother’s life story and Mbaya’s story entwined years ago, and how the bond they struck endured. As she sets out to solve the mystery of the unexpected gift she had received from Mbaya, she picks up fascinating clues that help her to fully understand her family and her place in the world. Mbaya’s gift is not just the historic house that he bequeathed to her, it is also a wealth of insight and an opportunity to complete the karmic cycle that her beloved grandmother was a part of.

Environmental concerns loom large over the narrative. The island’s future is under threat and Maya’s efforts to fight the good fight make for gripping reading. Brar places the spotlight both on the human activities and avarice that wreck precious ecosystems as well as the human actors who devote their energies to conserving and protecting nature in the time of the climate crisis. Theirs is a monumental task, but characters such as Maya and Vincent give readers hope, spurring us to take action on behalf a planet grappling with multiple threats.