No Bridge Over the Troubled Waters

No Bridge Over the Troubled Waters: An adolescent young man drowns in the Indian Ocean. At his funeral, people discuss his life and how he died. This follows a long chronicle of the history of Andaman and Nicobar flowing through time and events from very personal viewpoints trying to locate the rationale of disjointed communities settling in an island and living overtime to get to know each other. In a web of complex lineage, uncertain timeline and modern folk narratives, the novel breaks out into a narrative of life on its own terms, without norms or conventions, thrilling the reader with an expansive dialogue between the self, nature and society. The land is but a field for people to pursue their quest through a story that blends science, language, religion, politics, philosophy and of course, literature to create a mosaic of belief that human beings develop as a source of narrative to provide them with a certain sense of location in history. Life and death of people become marked only by others who care enough to do so. What is needed indispensably is the will to live life on the edge, and the people of Andaman and Nicobar know it all too well, just as well as other people.

Mohammad Kamran (b. 1994) is a student of literature, theatre and performance, currently pursuing research in Jawaharlal Nehru University. Born and brought up in Port Blair, he has written short stories, poetry, scripts for plays and radio shows in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He has also presented papers and attended seminars on literature, culture and media in New Delhi. An avid reader in English and Hindi, he is also deeply interested in translation and intercontinental thought which reflect deeply in his writing.

**Contents and Sample Pages**