Blue-Skinned Gods is a thought-provoking book about faith and belief, the lengths that we go to, and the reasons we use to justify our actions that control someone who does not know any better. This was a hard read for me at times and I encourage you to check the content notes before reading the book. If you have travelled to or lived in India or any place where Hinduism is practiced, like Sri Lanka, your prior knowledge will come in very handy as mine sure did!
Blue-Skinned Gods introduces us to Kalki, a 10-year-old boy who is believed to be the tenth and final reincarnation of the Hindu god, Vishu. There are old texts that have prophesied his birth and now that he is here, he must pass some tests to prove he is truly who everyone thinks he is. His skin is blue in colour and that seems like a definite sign of his divinity. In an ashram in Tamil Nadu, his parents and aunt and uncle host devotees from around the world who have some to see him and get his help in healing themselves.
Thoughts on Blue Skinned Gods
The book is divided into four parts. The first three focus on the most important people in Kalki’s life, including his cousin, his mother, and his father. The last part of the book is about Kalki’s personal growth and decisions for the rest of his life.
Hinduism and the worship of Vishu and his incarnations are an integral part of Kalki’s story. Homeschooled by his father and immersed in Indian sacred texts, Kalki is a wealth of knowledge on old teachings. As a blue-skinned boy who is the reincarnation of Vishnu, he does not associate much with other kids, his interactions being limited to his cousin, Lakshman, and a devotee who comes to heal and live with them, Roopa.
Kalki has grown up being told he is a god and his actions are defined by what the texts tell him is appropriate behaviour. But that does not mean that he truly sees himself as the people that he reads about. There is definitely a struggle to find out who he is and there are times when he knows he is privileged because he is a god. Like us humans, he doubts his abilities and as a young kid, he wants to be a child too. But being a god comes with its own responsibilities, and that is what made Kalki a reliable and lovable character. I spent most of the book rooting for him and wanting him to be whoever he is, god or not, to have clarity on that, and why.
Blue-Skinned Gods does an amazing job at depicting the tension between belief and truth. I wondered about the effect such expectations have on a child, and it is evident where a spiral of self-doubt leads to for someone in Kalki’s shoes.
I also enjoyed the modern touch that the book has when Kalki travels to North America; it gives a good contrast to his rural upbringing in India. This will likely make the book more accessible to Western audiences. The exoticness of Blue Skinned gods as a music band, mixed with Kalki’s teachings as a guru offers an interesting backdrop for Kalki’s final steps towards the truth. He learns a lot about the teachings he has lived with and the story he has been told.
I enjoyed the twists and origin story of the young boy. It made me face my own presumptions and marvel at how reading about a culture moulds the people I imagine in my head.
Reading Experience Summary
Blue-Skinned Gods is a beautifully written book that made me ponder the world I live in. It is rich in Hindu culture, exposing not just its positive sides, but also its negative. I really liked the balance of information and how the main character, Kalki, questioned things as he grew older.
Growing up in India, I knew a lot of the stories and mythology references in this book and I felt the warmth that comes from feeling that one is in familiar territory. For someone who does not have the same context, the significance of the names and plot need some explaining, and the author does an outstanding job of taking that into consideration. The worldbuilding is done very well. What made it challenging was some of the incidents depicted in the book.
This book is Kakli’s quest to figure out who he is. Kalki eventually travels to North America and his experiences there contribute a lot to who he ends up becoming at the end.
Blue-Skinned Gods is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of November 2nd 2021.
Will you be picking up Blue-Skinned Gods? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
From the award-winning author of Marriage of a Thousand Lies comes a brilliantly written, globe-spanning novel about identity, faith, family, and sexuality.
In Tamil Nadu, India, a boy is born with blue skin. His father sets up an ashram, and the family makes a living off of the pilgrims who seek the child’s blessings and miracles, believing young Kalki to be the tenth human incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. In Kalki’s tenth year, he is confronted with three trials that will test his power and prove his divine status and, his father tells him, spread his fame worldwide. While he seems to pass them, Kalki begins to question his divinity.
Over the next decade, his family unravels, and every relationship he relied on—father, mother, aunt, uncle, cousin—starts falling apart. Traveling from India to the underground rock scene of New York City, Blue-Skinned Gods explores ethnic, gender, and sexual identities, and spans continents and faiths, in an expansive and heartfelt look at the need for belief in our globally interconnected world.
Content Notes: Depiction of suicide, domestic violence and abuse, transphobia, extra marital affair.
