Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line Summary
Deepa Anappara

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line Overview

Influenced by the post-millennium interest in documentary journalism and by post-colonial literary experiments using a child as a principal narrator, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, set in the sprawling slums of an unnamed contemporary Indian city, tells of a poor neighborhood terrorized by a series of child abductions. Part murder mystery, part coming of age story, part social critique, the novel, told largely by Jai, a brash nine-year old determined to solve the mystery of the missing children, explores the growing anxieties and paranoia in the neighborhood as the municipal authorities appear indifferent to the kidnappings. Journalist-turned-author Deepa Anappara tackles, among others, themes of the loss of innocence, the impact of poverty, the tension between television and reality, the role of language in defining a culture and a community, and ultimately the redemptive power of storytelling.