I’ve taken a liking to Indian writing now. Strange how I’ve never read much of it until recently. It started with Mulk Raj Anand’s ‘Coolie’. It was a dark and depressing read about an orphan Munno. The novel does make you fell uncomfortable by the bringing out the crudeness of people in those days. Now I’m onto reading ‘Untouchables’ , written by him. It is a story about the trials and tribulations of Bakha, an outcaste. You do feel sorry for the naive desires and the inability to even dream of them ‘cause you are ‘forbidden’ to ‘pollute’

‘Arranged Marriage’ was a book I picked up during one of the many visits to the British Council. It is a collection of short stories written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I guess the title caught my interest. The stories are based on the woman’s side of marriage.

Arranged Marriage or marriage of convenience is a widely accepted and practiced concept in India. The process has been a bit modified so as to suit the mindsets of today’s generation. Statistics show that arranged marriages have seen a better success level. Maybe ‘cause the spouses get to know one another on a practical level first, looking beyond trivial issues such as beauty or lack thereof. You are not blinded by the physical beauty, but rather look for qualities that would help you sustain a long term relationship.

The language used in the book was effortless and the stories familiar. The characters in the stories could easily be your friend / aunt / mom / maid…Some of the women in the stories are Indian-born US-settled, trying desperately to strike a balance between their hereditary values and modern liberal thoughts; some too Indian or too western to finding it hard to accept change.

1. Bats: is a story that is relayed through the eyes of a kid who doesn’t understand why her mother weeps and hugs her. Why she has bruises on her face. Why she leaves for her uncle’s place only to return…

2. Clothes: is about a person who loves to dress for her hubby and is always eager to please him. Unfortunately, the star of her life dies leaving her to move on and live his dream.

3. Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs: She is excited to reach US and stay with her aunt during her study. But life is far from her expectation. Most people feel that staying away from motherland is a liberating experience. This story begs to differ.

4. Word Love: Every time the protagonist calls her mother in India and hears her plans to arrange a marriage for her, she feels guilty of hiding the fact that she is staying with her boyfriend. She is caught between the guilt of betraying her mother’s trust and her own love of her life.

5. The Perfect Life: Is about a person who is into a live-in relationship where her boyfriend gives her lots of space. Marriage and children are the last thing on her mind until a little kid she encounters gives her a whole new perspective to relationships.

6. The Maid Servant’s story: She is about to get married. Her aunt tells her a moving story about a married woman could not save her maid servant from becoming a prostitute. This story talks about marital limitations and other intricacies.

7. The Disappearance: This story is revealed through the eyes of a husband who is coping with the sudden disappearance of his wife. He searches almost everywhere, but in vain. He recalls his marriage with her. He loved her; but was not sure if she did. They had small differences, which is usual in all marriages.

8. The Doors: This is a story about how compromises and inflexibility could lead to a strained bond.

9. The Ultrasound: It subtlety deals with the issue of female foeticide. The story tells about the acceptance of the baby being a girl in India in contrast to that in America.

The last two stories are the ones that touched a cord. They sort of answered many a questions that have bothered me at different times.

10. The Affair: This story starts with a playful question that is put forth to the wife. It sets her thinking deeply about the relationship with her husband .It deals with the dissatisfaction in marriage the insecurity that one feels when one is extremely extrovert and the other just the opposite. You wonder what is it that he saw in you, that you were chosen over a million offers. It unfurls the different perspectives of the people involved.

11. Meeting Mrinal: It is a story about two long lost friends. One is an average everyday person, who has been deserted by her husband for another woman and the other who has everything going for her, her looks, her education, her career…she is forced to think if it was her mistake that she is not born beautiful?; Is it her inability to ‘satisfy’ her husband that he left her for another woman?; Is it her mistake that the relationship with her son is somewhat strained; would she have been happier if she never married?

An encounter with her childhood friend, who has everything one could only dream of, who had never married, gives her an answer to many a questions that have been nagging her. Mrinal, her friend, talks of emptiness, a sense of loneliness a yearning for a companion, amidst a booming career.