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By the side of Varanasi

Delhi University lecturer Suroopa Mukherjee's debut novel, "Across The Mystic Shore" is a racy page-turner without being pulp fiction, notes SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY

IMPRESSIVE BEGINNING Suroopa Mukherjee turns a novelist with "Across The Mystic Shore" PHOTO: ANU PUSHKARNA

Fresh from reading "Across The Mystic Shore", the first query you have for its author Suroopa Mukherjee is on expected lines: Why did she leave her story so open-ended?

"You are not the first one to ask me this," says Suroopa, flashing a gentle smile, easily giving away the feeling that she is quite happy receiving responses from her readers for her debut novel. A teacher of English Literature at Hindu College in Delhi, Suroopa is on a sabbatical to do research on the women survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy as a fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. So for convenience's sake we meet at the Museum annexe, where in the muffled ambience, sitting within whispering distance, Suroopa begins talking in soft, measured tones about why she did what she did in her book.

"All relationships are fragile, especially when they are held together by norms not set by society. Through my book, I tried to understand relationships and also the choices people make. And precisely so, I left my narrative open-ended," says Suroopa. Not all things that happen have an answer, not all things that happen are on expected lines. Beyond a point, some situations don't even need an explanation, she elaborates. But in this knotty web of relationships, the author has been able to successfully put together a racy narrative without descending to the level of churning out pulp. Her book has unrequited love, adultery, sincere affection, a white man's fascination for Indian mysticism, maternal longing, the plight of Hindu widows and women living lives on their own terms, all stemming from the shore of Varanasi. Some loose ends travel all the way to Delhi, and some go beyond the seven seas.

Ramola in Varanasi

Among other things, what strikes you about Suroopa's book, a Macmillan publication, is the miracle that the Indian arranged marriage system has been, that it can still stretch to any level to withstand tremors, and also her elaborate description of Varanasi as a mystic town. "I was introduced to Varanasi by my husband, Gautam who was posted there years back. The idea of living in Varanasi was first revolting for me, but gradually, I started discovering Varanasi," she says. The idea of the book has lived with her since, and when she actually got down to penning it, she went back there "consciously."

"The character that I found most difficult to tackle in my book is that of Ramola, because she in a way represents what a mystery Varanasi is," she says. A writer of children's books, Suroopa's first non-fiction work was "Bhopal Gas Tragedy, A Book For Young People" four years ago. Now having tasted the freedom of writing fiction, she is already putting together her next novel.

"It will be completely different from the first one," she promises.

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