“Dr. Joy could be a film star had he not been a doctor of community medicine. Brought up by a padre amongst tribals known for their unfettered sexuality and simple existence, Dr.Joy is raised to be free of any preconceptions of conventional morality so that nothing would hinder him from being of service to fellow human beings. Yet for him, his awesome looks are a constant reminder of his unknown parentage and the reason for his guilt ridden resolve to stay celibate.
He arrives in Sonar Gaaon, to help a trade union of sex workers fight the HIV virus and runs into a welcome that gives him a trailor of the topography that he would have to negotiate. He is molested and mauled by the very people he has come to help. Yet, as he finds help and shelter, he begins to understand the inverse morality that dictates the behaviour of Sonar Gaaon and its inhabitants. In the dirt and squalour of that wholesale market for paid sex, where violence, apathy and hatred are obvious and manifest Dr.Joy begins his bizarre discovery of many stories of love, empathy and sacrifice. However when his own furtive love story culminates in a sexual crescendo he is confronted with the moral baggage he has carried all his life. He is torn.
The book is an interplay of dramatic situations — a story of fierce battles between good and evil. Except, in Sonar Gaaon it is often impossible to discern between the two. Bafflingly so.
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