I know people are tired of abcds (american born confused desis) and their tales of woe and re-conciliation... I don’t blame you...I was tired too.. and thus when I heard about this book I was apprehensive about reading it but when I did I was glad that I actually did.
so what is the story...
Without going into much intricate details we have a bengali couple... ashok and ashima ganguly conceiving a child...due to some rather dubious and funny episodes the child comes to be known as ’’gogol’’.
Now the thing it was just supposed to be a nickname and not the official name at all... a name that would have been used by his near and dear ones...the name that resembled love and familiarity. but when this peculiar russian surname (from the russian author gogol of ’’the raincoat’’ fame, who happened to be ashok’s favourite in the novel) became the name by which this boy was known... it became a reason for not only enstrangment but a series of humiliation for the child.
Gogol had started resenting everything...from his over-cautious and rather ’’indian’’ parents to his heritage and culture because of which he was never actually accepted in the circle he was. even when he was in a group he was basically a loner... that made him feel like a leper in the crowd, .
Gogol had found as if an alter ego when he used the name nikhil...the name his parents had actually chosen to be his proper name ... but there was a constant conflict... not about culture or religion but about beliefs and view points... about how money and pleasure was derived and used....the main strife was the fact as to whether he should accept the fact that he can never be a true indian nor an american and thus give up and live like that or should he continue to search for a way to prove that his existence did not need justification.
About the Author...
I guess everyone knows about jhumpa lahiri... her wonderful collection of short stories ’’interpreter of maladies’’ was like a handcrafted woven material that had so many intricacies of human emotions and behaviours that one couldn’t help but marvel. Her language is crisp and lucid. Her sense of execution is at par with the theme she is writing on. The namesake is a piece of jhumpa lahiri’s work at her best.
The novel doesn’t have a pace... it starts from a plane and ends in it without any major ups and downs... so while reading this story one must remember the analogy of woven cloth... no upheavals or divine revelation nor any upsetting dramatic change of line...rather a mirage of innumerable number of great emotions and details that make this novel beautiful... almost poetic.
Many may find this lack of dynamics a bit boring but I don’t know why I kind of related to the character... we don’t necessary have to be NRIs to have that kind of turmoil in our head.. we face such crisis too! it’s rather the lack of self-understanding that affects the character than lack of reason to relate that is a thing to watch out for in this book.
Happy reading!