1474 pages, 2 religious riots, 1 major landmark law, 3 suitors and 1 girl-not fair skinned in an India set in 1952 and the book released in 1993 India.
The narration of A Suitable Boy is set in Brahmpur, north part of India,a country just after Independence. An India awakening from the holds of a foreign regime, the landlords wrought up about letting go of their lands, the corporate landscape undergoing changes but the mothers absolutely sure of never letting their children get away from the grandiose traps of marriage planning.
This monumental novel,at the heart, is about Lata and finding an eligible boy for her, but at the peripheral is everything the India left behind by the British was. The shackles were only loosely untangling. The rural land tenants' situation was far from developed. Caste was the social evil. The cushy white collar offices were going through a complex. And James Joyce was missed in college. This book rightly is a suitable Indian read.
There really cannot be a justifiable summary of such a long book. However I am delighted to talk about some of the characters who have stayed with readers in the last twenty years since the book was written.
Mrs.Rupa Mehra
Why did I choose the mother as the heroine of this book? Because she is the driving force behind this story, according to me. She is quick, sharp, a go-getter, ambitious for her children and yet emotional - excessive at times and a basketful of most traditions of an Indian mother. Most of Lata's thoughts and the direction of them were always influenced by Mrs. Rupa Mehra.
Lata
The dutiful daughter. The unconventionally beautiful Indian girl who wasn't fair skinned in 1993 India. The shy, utopian girl who kisses a Muslim boy in 1993 India. Lata, seemingly demure but assuredly a rebel at heart, she shocks the reader, her brother and a sad old monkey.
Kabir
The lone survivor. One of the monkeys whom Lata loves. Kabir, infinite in patience, a persevering man and dreamy in sketch, he exemplifies the charming romance of 50s.
Maan Kapoor
Maan is the Gemini of the book. Effervescent, gallivanting about and winsome but also demented and daring. I felt he is often misunderstood and maybe presented in the book like so to prove the ambiguity of human nature.
The above four are the most important characters according to me who keep coming back in the novel. Some others are :
Pran Kapoor
Maan's elder brother, a lecturer and complete opposite of Maan. The academic state of universities and the situation is thrown light through Pran's thoughts and character. He is the husband of Savita,sister of Lata.
Arun Mehra
Eldest brother of the Mehra children. The corporate snob of the high rise in Calcutta. He is sharp, observant of the ways of a cultured,cosmopolitan life and of unsuitable suitors to his sister but hardly so when it comes to his cheating wife, Meenakshi.
The Chatterjis
The in-laws of Arun. The judge father-in-law and his five 'cases' with varying degrees of personality quirks all joined by couplets and rhymes. Amit, the eldest a poet, is one of the suitors to Lata and faintly a shadow of Vikram Seth, something I read in articles though the author denies it.
Mahesh Kapoor
The practical, shrewd politician in the Congress party and Minister of Revenue in Brahmpur. He is the father of Pran,Maan and Veena. And husband of a devoted patient wife, through whom the domestic scenes of a political household are outlined.
Haresh
The third suitor. The unsuitable white collar claimant ,according to Arun , the ideal man ,according to Mrs Mehra and the underdog, according to himself. According to Lata, he is the ones who wears the shoe if it fits even though it may not match.
Saeeda Bai
The singing and dancing ember of the novel. The one who causes destruction to two households but calms with her poetry and andaaz.
The Khans
Firoz Khan and Imtiaz, sons of Nawab Sahib of Biter. The Khans' friendship with the Kapoors and the various conflicts of interest result in significant turns to the story.
This is the second novel of Seth I read after The Golden Gate. There is no doubt about the style of his writing and the immense emphasis on every page being worth reading. Seth has an inherent love for poetry and it can be found in this long saga of four families. The Chatterjis' couplets, Kabir's pining, Lata's musings and Saeed Bai's songs - all weave their way to the reader's heart.
I cannot accentuate enough the importance of research in a book of this proportion, especially as it travels across historical, political, cultural and geographical boundaries. The Zamindari Act, the political scene in 1950s India, the rural landscape, the religious tensions and the urbane atmosphere of Calcutta is acutely presented. One can dwell in every little story which entwines two or more characters and the little and big twists are not just about good storytelling but also portray every background possible to give an apt view to the India in a bygone era.
The last time I read a book which blew my mind on literary, research and cultural premises was East of Eden, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Signature of All Things and Anna Karenina. Its good to lose one's mind and strain the wrist once in a while.
The narration of A Suitable Boy is set in Brahmpur, north part of India,a country just after Independence. An India awakening from the holds of a foreign regime, the landlords wrought up about letting go of their lands, the corporate landscape undergoing changes but the mothers absolutely sure of never letting their children get away from the grandiose traps of marriage planning.
This monumental novel,at the heart, is about Lata and finding an eligible boy for her, but at the peripheral is everything the India left behind by the British was. The shackles were only loosely untangling. The rural land tenants' situation was far from developed. Caste was the social evil. The cushy white collar offices were going through a complex. And James Joyce was missed in college. This book rightly is a suitable Indian read.
There really cannot be a justifiable summary of such a long book. However I am delighted to talk about some of the characters who have stayed with readers in the last twenty years since the book was written.
Mrs.Rupa Mehra
Why did I choose the mother as the heroine of this book? Because she is the driving force behind this story, according to me. She is quick, sharp, a go-getter, ambitious for her children and yet emotional - excessive at times and a basketful of most traditions of an Indian mother. Most of Lata's thoughts and the direction of them were always influenced by Mrs. Rupa Mehra.
Lata
The dutiful daughter. The unconventionally beautiful Indian girl who wasn't fair skinned in 1993 India. The shy, utopian girl who kisses a Muslim boy in 1993 India. Lata, seemingly demure but assuredly a rebel at heart, she shocks the reader, her brother and a sad old monkey.
Kabir
The lone survivor. One of the monkeys whom Lata loves. Kabir, infinite in patience, a persevering man and dreamy in sketch, he exemplifies the charming romance of 50s.
Maan Kapoor
Maan is the Gemini of the book. Effervescent, gallivanting about and winsome but also demented and daring. I felt he is often misunderstood and maybe presented in the book like so to prove the ambiguity of human nature.
The above four are the most important characters according to me who keep coming back in the novel. Some others are :
Pran Kapoor
Maan's elder brother, a lecturer and complete opposite of Maan. The academic state of universities and the situation is thrown light through Pran's thoughts and character. He is the husband of Savita,sister of Lata.
Arun Mehra
Eldest brother of the Mehra children. The corporate snob of the high rise in Calcutta. He is sharp, observant of the ways of a cultured,cosmopolitan life and of unsuitable suitors to his sister but hardly so when it comes to his cheating wife, Meenakshi.
The Chatterjis
The in-laws of Arun. The judge father-in-law and his five 'cases' with varying degrees of personality quirks all joined by couplets and rhymes. Amit, the eldest a poet, is one of the suitors to Lata and faintly a shadow of Vikram Seth, something I read in articles though the author denies it.
Mahesh Kapoor
The practical, shrewd politician in the Congress party and Minister of Revenue in Brahmpur. He is the father of Pran,Maan and Veena. And husband of a devoted patient wife, through whom the domestic scenes of a political household are outlined.
Haresh
The third suitor. The unsuitable white collar claimant ,according to Arun , the ideal man ,according to Mrs Mehra and the underdog, according to himself. According to Lata, he is the ones who wears the shoe if it fits even though it may not match.
Saeeda Bai
The singing and dancing ember of the novel. The one who causes destruction to two households but calms with her poetry and andaaz.
The Khans
Firoz Khan and Imtiaz, sons of Nawab Sahib of Biter. The Khans' friendship with the Kapoors and the various conflicts of interest result in significant turns to the story.
This is the second novel of Seth I read after The Golden Gate. There is no doubt about the style of his writing and the immense emphasis on every page being worth reading. Seth has an inherent love for poetry and it can be found in this long saga of four families. The Chatterjis' couplets, Kabir's pining, Lata's musings and Saeed Bai's songs - all weave their way to the reader's heart.
I cannot accentuate enough the importance of research in a book of this proportion, especially as it travels across historical, political, cultural and geographical boundaries. The Zamindari Act, the political scene in 1950s India, the rural landscape, the religious tensions and the urbane atmosphere of Calcutta is acutely presented. One can dwell in every little story which entwines two or more characters and the little and big twists are not just about good storytelling but also portray every background possible to give an apt view to the India in a bygone era.
The last time I read a book which blew my mind on literary, research and cultural premises was East of Eden, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Signature of All Things and Anna Karenina. Its good to lose one's mind and strain the wrist once in a while.
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