First Impressions
MIA — short for Mithu — traverses between different planes after her father's suicide. As if the puzzling nature of his death were not enough, she has to face her motherwho, overnight, acquires a new hairdo, bleached eyebrows and gaudy outfits. Her mother is keen that Mia gets married so that she (the mother) can rebuild her life with her new boyfriend. Even though Mia cringes at the thought, she is introduced to Vik (short for Vikram) through her mother's astrologically-inclined boyfriend. She is surprised and grateful at not being palmed off to a fat idiotic toad. Instead, Vik's cool assurance, smooth uniform looks, and a sense of exuberance captivate her and she decides that he is perhaps the right choice. However, Mia is unprepared for her continuous hankering to keep in touch with Karna, whom she meets in Hyde Park, London. Karna seems to have stepped out of her father's painting and extols the virtues of a puritanical world that restores the virtues of women. Mia's marriage to Vik sets the pace for her life. There is also her desire to meet the ferocious Indi, Vik's eccentric and beautiful mother. Indi's story runs parallel to Mia's married life and Karna's escapades.
Ghose writes of a latent primitive desire that rushes out of her characters in everything they approach. Eventually this is a book about people looking for love each in their own way.
Blind Faith; Sagarika Ghose; Harper Collins; Rs. 295.
THERE is a surreal element in this story. It is almost as if some part of it is being enacted time and again in some remote part of the country. The narrative begins ordinarily enough with Krishna, a documentary filmmaker in New York, returning to her village in India when her grandmother, Dadiji, dies.
Dadiji's influence on her granddaughter is substantial and Krishna, when she returns, finds a strange bequest awaiting her. She is asked to film and document the sati of Damyanti _ a lawyer known to Dadiji _ who has petitioned the court to be allowed to join her husband in death. A bewildered Krishna is unable to resolve everything she has learned in the West to this ancient custom. However, she goes along with the plan and films the final gruesome act _ only redeemed by the calm and serene look on Damyanti's face. With Krishna's Eyes forces one to reflect upon a custom that continues to be prevalent in India, even today while it focuses on the immense difference between the two worlds.
With Krishna's Eyes; Sunny Singh, Rupa; Rs. 295
IT takes some courage to write your memoirs. It has to be an honest and interesting account of everything that has happened in your life, small or big, the defining moments, the heartbreak, the cheating, even the infidelity. Above all it must captivate the reader, any reader, even someone who has no clue as to who you are.
Mani and I makes a brave attempt at this. The facts are in order and well laid out. The anecdotes are pat and on cue. The characters come and go as they would have in the writer's life, but something is amiss. The book fails to move the reader beyond the mundane and ordinary and one is left with a detached view of life as it happened. A brave attempt, but one that needs more soul and passion.
Mani & I; Asif Siddiqi; Bibliophile South Asia; price not mentioned
SUCHITRA BEHAL
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