This is useful advice not just for Topshe, but for every aspiring writer. Creating characters that are so real that they leap out of the pages of the thriller requires constant honing of that craft. Ray had an advantage. He had mastered the medium of cinema, which has its own unique approach to telling stories. Ray brought in that visual sensibility to his writing.
The best crime fiction has the ability to draw the reader into solving the mystery using the same clues that the detective has. There’s a delicate balance here: the detective should always be half a step ahead, but not have any information that the reader does not. That makes it a fair cerebral game between the reader and the author. The dramatis personae have to be numerous enough to keep the reader guessing, but not so many that the reader is overwhelmed. Feluda’s stories struck the right balance.
Each adventure would leave me looking at the world a bit more like Feluda. In Feludar Goendagiri, Topshe and Feluda are on their way to meet Rajen-babu. He tells Feluda that the house is exactly seventy-seven steps away.
‘What if it isn’t?’
‘It has to be, Feluda. I counted it the last time.’
‘Ready for a knuckle punch on your head if you are wrong?’
‘Yes – but make it a gentle one. Anything stronger will dislocate my grey cells.’
Strangely, we did not reach Rajen-babu’s house in seventy-seven steps. It took an extra twenty-three steps to reach his gate.
Feluda gave me a gentle knuckle punch on my head and said, ‘When you counted it the last time, was it while you were returning or going there?’
‘On the way back.’
‘Idiot! While returning you were coming down a slope. You must have walked down in long strides!’
‘Maybe.’
‘It has to be so. And that is why you needed lesser steps that time, and needed more this time. Young people need to take long strides when they walk downhill. When you are older, you need to take smaller steps and keep braking on the downward slope – to avoid falling flat on your face.’
These little tips leave the reader just a little wiser. When Topshe is told that the sword used for fencing is called a rapier, he makes a mental note of it and so did I. I identified strongly with Topshe. He had the same anxieties as I did. And then one day, I was older than him, then older than Feluda. But Feluda continued to remain my hero.
I have had the opportunity to work with so many leaders across the world and get a ringside view of their work habits, and I have often wished I could make the adventures of Feluda a must-read for every leader. The best books not only share ideas and advice, but make it easy for the reader to imbibe those lessons.
Take Notes and Reflect
I have seen the most effective leaders across organizations take notes during meetings and then track decisions. Feluda (like Satyajit Ray did over the years) writes his notes in a small diary. As his fans know, the detective has created his own version of encryption by using Greek alphabets to write English words. He does not rely on memory. At the end of the day, he would ask Topshe to recount all the people they had met and some relevant highlights that need to be kept in mind.
The human mind is capable of playing tricks. Take just one example of a cognitive bias – confirmation bias. It is the tendency of people to favour information that confirms their beliefs. One of the similarities that a lot of leaders have with Feluda is that they are all compulsive note takers. They will never go to a meeting without a notebook in which they will write down their observations, their unsolved questions, data that seems to be counter-intuitive. That helps them to track their decisions.
Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel laureate, explains why a notebook maybe the best investment you could make if you wish to improve your decisions. Use it to keep track of what’s decided and why. Write down the relevant variables that will govern the outcome, what you expect to happen and why you expect it to happen. You can also write down how you feel about the decision and your confidence level in the outcome you expect. It’ll also help you distinguish between when you’re right for the wrong reasons, and when you’re wrong for the right reasons.
While working on a case, Feluda always spends ‘alone time’ reflecting on what has transpired. He is the quintessential ‘introvert’. The popular Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) does not use introvert to mean someone who avoids social interactions. It actually describes introverts as people who derive their energy from ideas and reflection. They look inwards to recharge themselves and make sense of the world around. MBTI describes ‘extraverts’ (they spell it with A, not an O) as people who draw their energy from the outside world. To quote the definition: ‘People who prefer extraversion draw energy from action: they tend to act, then reflect, then act further. If they are inactive, their motivation tends to decline. To rebuild their energy, extraverts need breaks from time spent in reflection. Conversely, those who prefer introversion “expend” energy through action: they prefer to reflect, then act, then reflect again. To rebuild their energy, introverts need quiet time alone, away from activity.’1
Play as a Way to Teach Others
Feluda would very consciously educate his assistant (or satellite, as Topshe described himself) about the history of a place and bring it to life. Sometimes he played word games. In Badshahi Angti, he tells his thirteen-year-old assistant that the word ‘osteopath’ is used to describe a doctor who works with bones. He points out the similarity between the word ‘osteo’ and the Bengali/ Sanskrit word for bone: osthi/asthi. That sentence opened up a fascination for words that has stayed with me over the years. I too started to keep a lookout for such words. For instance, the word ‘widower’ and ‘vidhava’, the Bengali/ Sanskrit word for widow, sound close enough to be related.
Like Topshe, I too learned that the blue scorpion and black widow spider are both poisonous enough to qualify as ‘neurotoxic’, potent enough to kill a human being. Feluda has the ability to make history come alive. It was in this story that I learnt about the versatile Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow who could sing and was also credited with writing the first-ever Western-style opera in India. He composed the thumri ‘Jab chhod chale Lucknow nagri, tab haal aadam par kya guzari’ when he was leaving his beloved kingdom after being defeated by the British. Ray used this composition briefly in his film Shatranj Ke Khiladi.
In Kailashe Kelenkari, Feluda teaches Topshe the mnemonics that he uses to remember numbers. The method is simple – remember the number like an abbreviation. For example, the number 5349 becomes Fi-th-fo-ni.
Some of the most effective teachers blend play with information while teaching complex lessons. One effective method of teaching others is to use a question to arouse the other person’s curiosity. Feluda used ‘curiosity questions’ to trigger Topshe’s interest in the subject in every case.
Keep an Open Mind
Feluda meets Lalmohan Ganguly, or ‘Jatayu’, in Sonar Kella, his sixth adventure. The story revolves around an eight-year-old boy who claims to recall living near a golden fort in his previous birth.
Topshe asks Feluda if he believes in parapsychology and rebirth.
Feluda tells Topshe, ‘It is foolish to believe or not believe something without evidence. History is full of examples of people who made serious errors because they did not keep an open mind. There was a time when people believed that the earth was flat, you know that, don’t you?’
As he investigates the case, Feluda reads up about Rajasthan as well as parapsychology. He reads James Tod’s book on Rajasthan, a guidebook on the region, a book on Indian history and two books on parapsychology. Never go unprepared for any meeting. Do your own research.
This is a great life lesson. Successful people will listen patiently to another point of view on a subject. They do not bury dissent. I know the chairman of a very successful corporation who travels economy class in flights to be able to engage in conversations with people unconnected to his business. Once, while travelling, he was seated next to a young entrepreneur, and learnt ab
out his business model. ‘When I speak to someone young and inexperienced, they will tell me about the way they see the world. That helps me examine which assumption of mine has become outdated,’ he says.
T-shaped Skills
The concept of T-shaped skills, or T-shaped persons, is a metaphor used in job recruitment to describe the abilities of persons in the workforce. The vertical bar of the ‘T’ represents the depth of related skills and expertise in a single field, whereas the horizontal bar is the ability to collaborate across disciplines with experts in other areas and to apply knowledge in areas of expertise other than one’s own.
Feluda’s breadth of reading (besides reading The Statesman every day) makes him the quintessential T-shaped person. In Golokdham Rahasya, a crime is triggered by envy and professional jealousy. Ray introduces the story with Feluda quizzing Topshe about various characters of the Mahabharata.
‘Who was Jayadratha?’
‘Duryodhan’s sister Duhshala’s husband.’
‘Jarasandha?’
‘The king of Magadha.’
‘Dhrishtadyumna?’
‘Draupadi’s brother.’
‘Name the conch used by Arjun and Yudhishthir.’
‘Arjun’s shell was Devdutta and Yudhishthir’s conch was called Anantavijaya.’
In Nayan Rahasya, Feluda tells us that snakeroot, or sarpagandha, is a species of flowering plant that is useful for treating blood pressure. In Kailashe Kelenkari, Feluda is reading Tintin in Tibet. Then he goes on to read The Chariot of the Gods. He tells Topshe that the Pyramid of Giza has 200,000 blocks of stone, each one weighing fifteen tonnes. He calculates that each pyramid would have taken almost 600 years to complete.
This is exactly the kind of skill that will make a person innovative. Ideas for new businesses often lie in applying the ideas from one discipline to solve the problems in another. Look at ideas from other industries that can be applied to solve problems that are vexing you. Biomimicry or biomimetics is the imitation of the models, systems and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems.
All too often, people read just what they can immediately use to solve their problem. Innovation lies in our ability to reframe problems by asking interesting questions. If you ask, ‘What is the sum of eight and fourteen?’, there is only one answer. Reframing it to ask which two numbers can add up to twenty-two throws open a host of possibilities. It is people with T-shaped skills who can find unconventional solutions to problems.
Like Feluda would advise Topshe, we could simply ask, ‘How would someone else view this problem?’ Maybe ask yourself a hypothetical question by creating different scenarios. ‘How would Google solve this problem?’, ‘How would Disney handle this?’, ‘How would Feluda solve this? What would he notice that others have not?’
We don’t know what we don’t know. Reading Feluda is a good starting point.
Seek a Mentor
One of the most fascinating characters in the series is Siddheshwar Basu alias Sidhu Jyatha, the human equivalent of Wikipedia. Sidhu Jyatha is supposed to have made and lost a lot of money doing various kinds of businesses. He now leads a retired life where he plays word games, reads plenty of books, especially books on chess, practises chess moves and constantly experiments. In Kailashe Kelenkari we learn that he has the habit of asking rhetorical questions as he smokes his cheroot. He has three almirahs full of books on every possible subject. Half the books are on art – a subject Sidhu Jyatha is passionate about.
Sidhu Jyatha has extensive knowledge of current and historical affairs. He is said to have a ‘photographic memory’, and is a vast repository of information that comes in handy when Feluda is in need of some. Sidhu Jyatha’s vast knowledge comes from a massive collection of newspaper clippings which he has accumulated over the years.
He advises Feluda to read up about the history of criminal investigation. ‘If you know the history of the field of work you choose to specialize in, you not only feel more confident, you also find your work more enjoyable.’ That is profound career advice. As a human resources professional, I marvel at Sidhu Jyatha’s insight – as relevant today as it was when he gave it to Feluda.
Then Sidhu Jyatha goes on to quiz Feluda. ‘Who discovered this method of going after criminals by following their fingerprints?’ It was not Alphonse Bertillon as most people would say but Juan Vucetich, the Argentine who advocated the use of thumb impressions. He divided the thumb impression into four categories. But it was Sir Edward Henry who refined the system further in the nineteenth century.
Feluda considers Sherlock Holmes to be the numero uno in his profession. When he goes to London, he makes it a point to stop in front of 221B Baker Street, and says that a trip to London would be incomplete if he didn’t stop to pay his respects to Conan Doyle’s creation.
Create a Compelling Vision
Feluda adventures are all set in different places. In Badshahi Angti, Topshe expresses his disappointment when he learns that they will not be going to Darjeeling or Puri, their usual vacation destination (something they shared with Satyajit Ray as well). Feluda creates a compelling vision of Lucknow for Topshe.
Feluda tells him about the splendour of the Bhulbhulaiya inside the Imambara, built more than 200 years ago by Nawab Asafud-daula. Topshe learns that the Imambara has one of the largest darbar halls. The maze was used by the nawab and his consorts to play hide-and-seek, and is the setting for much of the action in the story. Then Feluda goes on to pique the fourteen-year-old’s imagination by telling him about the bullet and cannonball marks that are seen on the walls of the Residency, the bastion of the British soldiers during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. It is Feluda who draws attention to the curious mix of English and Urdu in the name of Kaiser Bagh, another tourist attraction of Lucknow. He says that Lucknow was called Lakhnavati during the days of the Ramayana.
Countless Bengali tourists have been flocking to the Jaisalmer fort ever since we saw a glimpse of its massive yellow sandstone walls which fade to honey-gold as the sun sets in Sonar Kella. Even the locals refer to the fort as ‘sone ka qila after’ Feluda’s adventure.
When Feluda goes to Varanasi in Joi Baba Felunath, he makes the city come alive. He asks Topshe if he would consider living in Varanasi for the rest of his life. Topshe thinks for a moment and says, ‘Probably not.’
Feluda says, ‘What you are looking at is not just a road. You are looking at a road in Benares. Benares! Kashi! Varanasi! That’s something. The oldest city in the world, a place of pilgrimage and worship! The city has a kind of magic that is created by a combination of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, sages, yogis, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, all of which come together to make the city rise above the dirt and squalor. Those who live here are so caught up in their daily struggles that they do not have time to look at the dirt. Those who come for a few days cannot think beyond.’
Leaders would do well to learn this lesson from Feluda. It is easier to get people to give their best when they are pulled towards a goal that they are excited about rather than something that they are forced to do. If the vision is exciting and compelling, people will go above and beyond the call of duty. When organizations work hard to measure the engagement levels of the employee, Feluda would advise them to check if each one sees the possibilities and vision that the leader has drawn up. Maybe it is worth looking at how to articulate the vision in a language that the average employee is excited by.
The thirty-five adventures of Feluda appeared between 1965–66 and 1995–96. I grew up in a world where there is no problem that Feluda cannot solve. There is no answer that stumps Sidhu Jyatha. Topshe was the most eager of learners, and tries to anticipate what he could do to contribute to the case and absorb Feluda’s methods like a sponge.
All this leads me to say that while Feluda offered me life lessons, it may be time for some succession planning, in the way organizations do. A lot of things have happened. While Sidhu Jyatha may not be around, we now have the Internet. Google Ne
ws can pull up all kinds of information, and numerous sites like Flickr and YouTube have come up that makes travel redundant in the context of an investigation. Posting a query on Facebook could get you information much faster than taking a trip to a remote location. It is easy to interview people on Skype. If Topshe wanted to connect to an expert on Twitter, it would be infinitely easy. I am not sure if Topshe was inspired enough to want to be a private investigator like Feluda.
With new technology, the role of the detective is also changing. Maybe it is time to get Topshe into the driver’s seat and have Feluda navigate instead. Maybe it is time for Topshe to implement those life lessons actively and let Feluda continue to mentor him.
* * *
Abhijit Bhaduri works as the chief learning officer of Wipro and is one of the most influential leaders on social media. His website abhijitbhaduri.com is widely read. He is the author of Don’t Hire the Best – a book that tells us how to hire for fit with the culture. He has authored two popular works of fiction, Mediocre but Arrogant and Married but Available.
Do I Love Him or Hate Him? Dealing with Prodosh C. Mitter and His Future
Mir
Do I dare to dislike Prodosh C. Mitter? Oops. Can I as a Bengali? Can any Bengali ever say this openly?
(Crash! Boom! Bang! Piece over.)
Why, you ask? Now I’ll happily admit that I am the weirdest of explainers, but bear with me as I take you through la philosophie de Feluda.
First things first. If you have a wife, you know how a detective operates … And if there is also a mother-in-law in the vicinity, you may as well have all of Scotland Yard grilling you.
On that sexist train of thought, I may as well comment on (and acknowledge) the powerful olfactory systems of the women around us. If you are guilty – as men so often are – you can bet your life you will be smelled out.
Feluda @ 50 Page 9
