The title of the book is quite misleading.
When this sweet friend of mine whose recommendations I respect, suggested the book, the first fleeting thoughts that came to my mind about the book, thanks to Mani Ratnam and his tamil movie “Mouna Ragam”, was that of the story of a woman who was probably forced into arranged marriage and then later, with time, slowly falls in love with her husband.
BUT, and its a big BUT, there is nothing remotely of the sorts in the book.
This book is not one story. It is a collection of short stories by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. The stories weave themselves around human emotions, Indian emotions to be precise, Indian-born-but-settled-abroad women to be most precise. But that doesn’t steal away any of the charm from what has been written. You may want to label the book as woman-centric and you will not be wrong to do so. The stories are a glimpse into the minds of Indian women torn between old traditions they have been brought up with and the new dazzling world they see.
There lies a message in each story for you to ponder upon. From the bats in the green orchards of Gopalpur, a small village in West Bengal, to the snowy silver pavements, golden roofs of Chicago. From the maid servant’s story working in a magnificent mansion in Kolkata to the search for the word love and a perfect life in small cosy apartments in Chicago. The doors and the clothes have a story to tell if you care to read. Here you see a man trying to solve the puzzle his life has become by the disappearance of his wife and there you see a woman trying to sew up the broken threads of her life after divorce even while she makes up a fictitious happy life on meeting Mrinal, her best friend. You can see a glimpse of yourself in one of the protagonist worrying about her closest friend battling against all odds only because the ultrasound shows she has a baby girl in her womb. Not to forget the effect of an extra-marital affair of a friend on the life of another friend. In case you are wondering about all those bolded words, these are nothing but the title of the 11 stories bounded together and compiled under the name of Arranged Marriage.
Coming to the author, this is the first book that I am reading by Chitra but the way she has played with words has captivated me. Her words bring life to the characters and you can almost feel them breathing and alive. Eerie? But yes, that’s the magic. You feel you are part and parcel of the story. Chitra beautifully waves her magic wand of words and there you lie besotted, engrossed and lost. The first page of the book tells me that Chitra was born and brought up in Kolkata but is settled in San Francisco now. Mother of two sons, she teaches creative writing at a local college and has won number of awards for volumes of poetry and the novels, The Mistress of Spice and Sister Of My Heart.
A few of her magical paras that had me spellbound.
"I know she will not tell me any more. Its how we survive, we Indian women whose lives are half light and half darkness, stopping short of revelations that would otherwise crisp away our skins. I’m left alone to figure the truth of the story, to puzzle out why it was given to me"
"You practice them out loud for days in front of the bathroom mirror, the words with which you will tell your mother that you’re living with a man. Sometimes they are words of confession and repentance. Sometimes they are angry, defiant. Sometimes they melt into a single, sighing sound, Love"
"Thats when I fix salads, lots of salads, as though the cucumbers and celery and alfafa could protect him from failing grades, drugs, street gangs, AIDS. As though the transparent rings of onions and the long curls of carrots could forge a chain that would hold him to me, close, safe forever."
A must read for all. For women, to celebrate womanhood. For men, a sneak peek into the minds of women.
An advice incase you are planning to read the book. Devour the stories slowly. One story at a time. And if possible, chew the cud, which you will in any case!