‘A Person is a Prayer’: A moving novel about the aches, regrets and longings each of us harbours

A Person is a Prayer begins by quoting Jon Fosse – “A person is a prayer through his or her longing”, and the novel, author Ammar Kalia’s debut, is a moving account of aches, regrets and longings every individual harbours. A highly nuanced portrait of familial ties and how they shape us and the exhausting work of “being” and “belonging” unto death, the novel shines a spotlight on marriage, parenting, ageing, losing a loved one and the ensuing grief. Centred around the culturally complex immigrant experience, the novel is a quiet exploration of what defines one’s “home” and “roots”.

A dreaded pilgrimage

Divided into three parts, with each part taking place on a day, years apart in time, the book moves in time and space, spanning three generations of a family and moving between India, Kenya and London. The book begins on March 19, 1955, with Bedi, a 25-year-old man visiting India to meet his prospective bride, Sushma. “In India, Bedi was a tourist, not a prodigal son”, for Bedi’s father who hailed from Rishikesh moves to Kenya to work on the railroads and raises his family there. Bedi, initially wary about impressing the girl and her family, eventually relaxes and bares his heart...

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