Jaishree Misra makes her literary debut with ’’ Ancient Promises ’’, a book that is largely autobiographical. A penguin publication, it is a story of of one woman’s struggle in a society and in a time that frowns upon anyone who is ’’different’’.
Janaki or Janu, is a seventeen yr old living in Delhi, faraway from her native kerala. Having just bid goodbye to her boyfriend and first love, Arjun, who is off to university in England, They promise to love each other forever. But Arjun will be away for three years and so it is with a heavy heart that Janu sets out on her annual summer trip to kerala with her parents. Once there she is pressurized into marriage, with a business man several years her senior.Suresh Marar, heir to the Marar fortunes is seen as a prize catch for an ordinary middle class family like Janu’s. Janu settles into her new family but realises quickly enough that she is far from welcome in the Marar house. Their behaviour is at best indifferent and cold , and soon Janu is an unhappy eighteen yr old with only the memories of Arjun, and her once happy life in Delhi to keep her going. When she learns she is pregnant, she sees a flicker of hope of earning the Marar family’s love and respect. Because if she does manage to produce the much yearned for first grandson, surely, she would be appreciated for it. But , she gives birth to a daughter.Who turns out to be mentally challenged. Life in the Marar household turns from bad to worse to unbearable. She realises , that, if her daughter Riya is to make any progress at all, she has to get away. So Janu works on her college degrees with a vengeance, and earns a bachelors and then a masters in English. She manages to secure a scholarship to London University, and in the meanwhile runs into Arjun once again. The accidental meeting with her childhood love, makes Janu realise that her life is in her hands , and, she can be happy if she chooses to be. She decides to get a divorce and live with Arjun in England. A bitter divorce and custody battle ensues and she is ostracized by her family and society. But she knows that it is a small price to pay for her happiness, and her daughter’s future....a small price indeed to keep an ancient promise .
Ancient Promises is not light reading.But it is not depressing either. It shows how traditions are sometimes so deeply ingrained in you that, it doesnt occur to you to rise above them and make a change.Women , especially Indian women, are deeply bound by the age long customs of a society that is notoriously male dominated, and it takes a courageous woman to stand up and cut off the binding ropes. Jaishree Misra’s descriptive yet casual style of writing combined with her obvious mastery of the language makes this book definitely worth a read.