Dhiraj Singh wins 2023 literary award for his novel ‘Master O’
Dhiraj’s book is rare Indian sci-fi thriller that delves deep into the man-animal relationship which has been work-in-progress down the millennia
image for illustrative purpose
With the United Nations declaring 2024 as the International Year of Camelids - a group that includes camels, llamas, alpacas, dromedaries among others - animals and their rights and contributions to the human race have once again come into focus. Add to that artificial intelligence - another current human obsession - and you have an incredibly successful novel.
Author Dhiraj Singh has achieved exactly that: by winning the ‘best author award of 2023’ for his path-breaking novel ‘Master O’. Dhiraj’s book is rare Indian sci-fi thriller that delves deep into the man-animal relationship which has been work-in-progress down the millennia.
From the satyrs of Greek mythology to the Egyptian Sphinx to Paramount Pictures’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, human imagination has created myth, legend and stories about human-animal composites since time immemorial. ‘Humanimality’ is a word that scholars have used to describe this intersection between human intellect and animal instinct. This season’s most talked about film ‘Animal’ is a great example of humanimality, not as a physical transformation but a subconscious trait.
Talking to Bizz Buzz, Dhira said, “It is proof that readers have a massive appetite for the new and the unexpected. At first it was difficult for me to place ‘Master O’ in a particular genre but when one reviewer called it a ‘sci-fi thriller’ the die was cast for me.”
But the best author award is beyond genres and therefore truly rewarding, he said.
Dhiraj’s novel also captures this zeitgeist with literary aplomb. His Salis Mania Choice Award for best author is a fitting endorsement of this. Set in the future, ‘Master O’ has Vajradhara, a lab-created elephant with some very unique abilities. Ake, another character in the book, describes their first meeting thus: “I was looking at a newborn’s skin. Pink, soft and translucent showing beneath it a network of veins… The long silver eyelashes. And the eyes, blue like the sky, glistening like a gemstone cut to reflect all the light around it.”
However despite appearances Vajradhara is no saint as he lists his many superpowers: “They also didn’t know that their minds were like clear water to us, we could see every thought taking form inside their heads. It was like watching bubbles in a fishbowl.” It is a power that he goes on to use and abuse at will.”
