'Stirred not Shaken'. Review on Arranged Marriage - Chitra Banerjee

Arranged Marriage – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

It is not easy to explore love, life and relationships. Especially when it is trapped in a woman’s soul, lost and caught between two worlds –that of India and America. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has deftly narrated such common yet magical tales in her compilation of eleven short stories called the Arranged Marriage.

I am not used to reading big and fat books and normally avoid them unless it is a must read. Also the reason that I am an extreme slow reader (that’s how I enjoy a book) compels me to settle for short stories. So while browsing through a stack of books that I could read, I came across a name I had never heard before, -Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

The title of her book was just as unusual- ‘Arranged marriage’. At once I felt connected and knew this book would give me company in the coming days. It did. It also touched me deep. Helped me understand a wee bit more of what women think (even then I know so little about them, they are so complicated, their thoughts are like an ocean and me a tiny drop) and how men act.

My chance discovery was not futile as I discovered later. Though I depended heavily on my intuition, I was not disappointed. Chitra has quality credentials attached to her writing skills. (For all those who wish to know more about the author please visit her website, which can be obtained from google). As soon as I discovered that she is a talented literary writer I settled myself with this book. In around a month I was able to finish reading the ‘Arranged Marriage’. It was so much fun.

I cannot call ‘Arranged Marriage’ as an intense collection, but it does touch the reader’s heart by building instant rapport. It is an absolute feminist work and reflects strongly and differently a woman sees relationships once she steps out of the closet. The closet here is the orthodox Indian society and culture and the world outside this closet is that of American dream - entirely different, free and outgoing. The short stories revolve around Indian-bred women leading a life in America…Exploring new dimensions of the relationships, that were either obscure or entirely missing in India.

East is east, and west is west. Yet with utter modesty Chitra covers the entire distance between the two extremes and brings to us eleven irresistible stories. In each story, we find ourselves pushed into a path abruptly and just when the readers decide to settle and adjust with the flow, Chitra casts her spell and changes the speed, leaving us all amazed, bedazzled, almost speechless. The stories usually start on an abrupt pace and end even more abruptly. Some might not even decipher (like) it but for me it took time to finish one story and hop on to the next.

The eleven stories are knitted closely if not similar. The sentences that Chitra uses are sometimes long, sometimes very short. But all of them exactly draw the picture in our minds that the writer wishes to convey. The title that Chitra has assigned to each story generates a curiosity. The reader is propelled to rush and satiate the inquisitiveness.

Chitra with her unique style and the gift of knowing both worlds, (for she was born in Kolkatta and moved on to USA, where she presently resides and teaches creative writing at a local college) deals with a host of issues. She discusses, extra –marital affairs, in her story doors, economic deprivation, abortion, even racism, and so much else. This is why I guess Chitra enthralls her readers with a style no less than engrossing. She has an uncanny ability to stir her readers without shaking them up, just as James Bond.

I am glad I bought this book. It has been an absolute delight reading the eleven short stories that form the Arranged Marriage.