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Vivid narrative
A PEEK into the lives of successful Indians in the Silicon Valley reveals wealth, emptiness and unhappiness and their never-ending quest for identity. Bharathi Mukherjee's Desirable Daughters begins with the wedding of Tara Lata, in Dacca. She is five-years-old and is to be married to 13-year-old Satindranath Lahiri, fifth son of Surendranath Lahiri. On the morning of the wedding, female relatives wait on the riverbank for the groom and his party. Finally when the decorated bajra of the Lahiri family sails into view and the women begin their ululations, they notice that there is no responsive cheer from the bajra, when it is anchored no one rushes to the railings. The reason Jai Krishnan finds out is that the 13-year-old groom is dead. He was killed by snakebite. Surendranath Lahiri is angry and devastated. He believes that the bride's people have not appeased Manasa, the goddess who causes or prevents snakebites. But when Lahiri demands that the dowry still be given to him, Jai Krishnan resolves that his five-year-old daughter will yet be married. She will not be transported into a "widow" for that was what she had now become. "... which for a Bengali Hindu woman, would be the most cursed state".
Jai Krishnan swears that the "auspicious hour will be honoured" and she is married to a tree. And Tara Lata's life was one of service until she was dragged out of her house by "Colonial authorities" in 1944 and her death announced two days later.
Spanning centuries and nations, Mukherjee has interwoven the past and present into an enchanting tale. As Amy Tan says, "An amazing enchanting tale and a masterpiece in storytelling".
Beginning with the traditional Brahmin Indian family in Bengal, with three beautiful sisters the story travels to San Francisco and freedom. Tara the protagonist, who carries the name of her ancestor, is divorced from her successful Silicon Valley husband, Bishwapriya Chatterjee. She lives now with her son and her lover — a balding, red bearded Hungarian Buddhist lover, who is a contractor, yoga teacher and former biker. Life seems comfortable enough when the calm is suddenly broken by the appearance of Christopher Dey — who claims to be the illegitimate son of her sister.
Tara's blissful world is broken and she tries to connect with her sisters, and her sister's friend Ronald Dey, to find out the truth. She turns for help to the Hungarian lover and finally the police. Jack Siddhu the police officer is an interesting character and adds spice to the investigations.
There is also "masala" with the appearance of Dawood Ibrahim's gang, the tracking down of Christopher Dey and finally the unravelling. The descriptions of Kolkata are vivid as also of the elite. The storyline is interesting and the prose well written.
Mukherjee has authored five novels, two non-fiction books and two collections of short stories. She is a Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. Her book The Middleman and Other Stories, won the National Book Critics Award.
Desirable Daughters, Bharathi Mukherjee, Rupa and Co., Rs. 195.
NIMI KURIAN
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