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The Journey of the Self and Adult Issues tackled by Young Adults in 'Touching Earth' by Rani Manicka

The Journey of the Self and Adult Issues tackled by Young Adults in Touching Earth by Rani Manicka

- Insha Rupani

As someone who is not really an avid reader, it wasn't very challenging to narrow down on a novel that really caught my attention. One of the not so many books that really left me dumbfounded was Touching Earth by Rani Manicka. It just isn't categorized as a Young Adult Novel because of its polyphonic nature and the many story arcs that the author has given her readers to feast on.

The novel presents us with the story of four very different people from various walks of life as well as varied cultural, ethical and geographical backgrounds. However, I am centering my piece on the journey of the Balinese twins who at a very tender age in their teenage years migrated to a completely different world located in the bustling city of London in the hopes to expand their horizons and search for their true selves. With their entire childhood and early formative years being spent in a rural village in Bali alongside their grandmother and disease ridden mother, they hoped to break free from the purgatory of living each day in the confines of their small uneventful bubble. This novel imitates the struggles and harsh nature of reality in a very soul-touching, rhythmic manner. The fickle, petty nature of humanity is highlighted as each character chases the superficial highs that life offers and often wagers their souls to the goddess of lust, power, wealth and temptation. The Balinese twins gradually shred off their innocence piece by piece until all is consumed by the sins of this world. This story starts off with a short glimpse of their simple yet joyful lives in the rural village of Bali that is so isolated and shielded from the rest of the world. Their very being and essence are so powerfully protected from the cobweb of temptation and sin that all they do is enjoy the simple joys of what life offers. However the dynamic nature of a human is more often than not challenged by greed and the desire to resist complacency for the better goodies in life.


This novel very gradually targets their innocence as they venture out into the world to seek a platter of rich experiences and break away from monotony. This all begins when the twins are offered the job of waitressing at a restaurant owned by a distant relative in London. They move away from their untouched lives, even though reluctantly, to search for a higher purpose. The paradise island that they once had is dramatically replaced by the sordid cubicle in the filth of London. As the story unfolds, we see them being mercilessly gripped into the black hole of lust and addiction that arises out of the consequences of their own actions. They do everything they can to survive the difficult hardships one has to endure in life to exist and partake in this ridiculous marathon with billions of others to fulfil their dreams.


This deeply resonates with each one of us as we go through the waxing and waning, dark and light phases in our lives to achieve everything that we dream of. In this process, we're forced to confront the moral dilemma as the very scaffolding of our conscience weakens out of desperation to chase a better tomorrow. The heart-breaking end of the novel left me empty with a whole baggage of emotions to with. As one of the twins dies in a tragic incident of heroin overdose the other twin is slapped with a gut wrenching reality check of her own actions.


The reasons why this novel deeply moved me was because of the duality of human nature as well as the grim, morbid, depressing realities of so many young, lost, impressionable souls out there for whom there's no hope.


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