First Impression
BY SUCHITRA BEHAL
A Mirror Greens In Spring; Selina Sen; IndiaInk; Rs.295.
WHEN four women get together to make life work, despite the odds, there is bound to be some fire. So it is with Chhobi, the narrator; Sonali, her beautiful but wilful younger sister; their mother, Ma; and their incredible grandmother, Dida. This is a story of four women relying on their feisty reserves and their native intelligence to overcome the odds and joining hands despite deep differences in their nature.
Set in New Delhi in the 1980s, the book begins with the abrupt death of the father of two young girls and the mother's life as a young widow. It quickly leapfrogs to the girls in their passionate teens. Sonali, with her breathtaking beauty, is busy vying for the affections of Sonny, the son of a Punjabi business family. The elder sister is given to living life at as nondescript a level as she can. Their mother and grandmother reign over the house.
Grandfather Dadu, once a successful doctor, is now into running a small clinic in his garage. He spends his time ruminating on his childhood in Bengal and lives mostly in the past.
Even as Dida and Ma wait for Sonali to make that right catch, Sonny spurns Sonali and marries the girl of his parents' choice. Sonalii marries Sonny's cousin Karan.
But Karan is laid off his job with the merchant navy and accepts a job in one of Sonny's family ships. When Karan and his crew disappear, Sonali decides to use this for her vendetta against Sonny. Both Sonali and her sister draw up an elaborate plan to trap Sonny and his family into revealing the truth.
Written with a keen eye on characters, this book has some memorable moments where adolescence and sensuality collide.
Once in a Blue Mooon: A Tantra Tale; Meena Devayani Nanda; Lotus Press; Rs. 195.
WHAT is the meeting point between a partridge's life and that of a human being? In this short, but rather intriguing, story, the author has juxtaposed the life of a partridge living in someone's garden with the lives of human beings and their desires.
Quite simply called IRL Partridge, this little bird lives beneath the bushes in a garden. From there, he maps the movements and daily lives of the inmates of the house in whose garden he lives —
Anand, a bureaucrat; his wife, Rupa and their child. The bird sees in Anand all the negative qualities that arrogance and dissatisfaction have brought to his life. He compares all this with the lives of partridges, specially his own.
One day Anand has a visitor, a beautiful young lady with a glowing aura. The surprised bird spies on the two. Anand asks the visitor help him attain the satisfaction, peace and calm that she has. She promises to help but tells him her path is not easy.
Anand seems more contented and happier but he cannot deny his attraction to this woman and hides his relationship from Rupa.
But Rupa find out and issues an ultimatum — either stop seeing the "other woman" or put up with Rupa's absence. With the bird narrating his own life story and that of Anand, this little book once again asks the basic question that human beings have asked over the years. What is happiness? Is there contentment? Are we all consumed by our materialistic gains? Do we have the inner strength to follow our hearts and our dreams?
This is a tiny book of life. If it weren't for the spelling and grammatical errors, it might not be that bad.
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