THIS WEEKEND.....

While waving at me with a cheerful smile saying "Happy Weekend" or "Happy Hols Ma'am", this friday evening, my students eyed suspiciously the huge book I was carrying along with me to home. Their expression simply said, "Will she finish it off in three days?"
Well, to be frank, even I doubted whether I would finish reading Vikram Seth's 1350 pages book "A SUITABLE BOY" in 3 days. I felt it's such a famous book and seth is one of the most acclaimed Indian authors who are still publishing. It's a must read. Before endeavouring to read the book I made sure that there are enough potato chips at home for the three days. But, I managed to finish the potato chips in one day and the book in two days.
Set in post Independent India(1950 to be specific), A SUITABLE BOY is the story of Mrs. Rupa mehra who keeps searching for a suitable match for her younger daughter, LATA. Lata, a student of English literature falls in love with KABIR. She tries to forget him once she gets to know that he is kabir DURRANI(A MUSLIM). When she understands that she is in neck deep love with him, she suggests that they leave(euphemstic usage of eloping) Brahmpur(the fictitious town in which the story is set). Kabir refuses to do so and talks about his graduation, his dreams about studying at Oxford or Cambridge & joining the IFS. LATA weeps like anything and says, "you don't understand things.you are not a girl". Mrs. Mehra gets to know about "lata-kabir" from one of her friends.After the usual RONA-DHONA, she insists on the boy's caste.He should be a KHATRI. she immeadiately takes lata to calcutta & starts searching for a suitable boy.Her search ends with HARESH KHANNA. There's also AMIT CHATTERJI who is the brother-in -law of lata's brother ARUN. N ow whom should LATA choose? Kabir, Haresh or Amit? In the mean while there's my mother who kept on fasting, performing poojas, reading the thousand names of gods & goddesses while my brother is taking his IIT entrance. No Food. Now, what should I do? Food technologists came to my rescue in the form of MAGGI.
There's a humorous situation in the novel, where ARUN(who is obsessed with England & English customs) discusses in length with Haresh about the Pubs, Restaurants, & Ball rooms of London and had to confess at last that he didn't visit England. That reminds one of Tom stoppard's INDIAN INK. Nirad das while talking to Flora crew, says, "chelsea, of course my favourite part of London". Flora is surprised "oh! you...." then he says, "I plan to visit london one of these days" I can never forget the way Prof. Subbarayudu read this out and made us laugh.
The characters of Arun & Meenakshi in this novel, reflect the mind set of Indians in the 1950's.obsessed with every thing Foreign, English, Attending balls, Extra marital affairs, every thing which is considered as English is followed.
The story ends with lata leaving Brahmpur with her huband, Haresh. She feeds monkeys and keeps looking at them while the train moves.Ii finished reading these lines while listening to one of my favourite tracks, Shreya ghoshal's "Jaadu hai nasha...."
The book didn't leave me exactly with wonder. certainly I did't fall in love with it. Some how, till the last page, I kept expecting lata to marry kabir. seth, I feel makes a better poet than a novelist. I studied one of his poems,"curious mishaps" 5 years back in the general english text book. I even liked that "word of thanks" in the form of a poem at the beginning of "A suitable boy" :-
"And, gentle reader, you as well,
buy me before good sense insists
you'll strain your purse and sprain your wrists".