Dec 14, 2004 06:14 PM
2300 Views
(Updated Dec 14, 2004 07:17 PM)
Smug married vs. urban singleton.
Now what was that ?
OK. To explain that, let me tell you about an average Indian youth,especially a young lady. Once she enters her 20s, her parents start murmuring about her ?marriage?. Then it?s like ?Either you tell us if you have someone in mind or let us take over.? In other words, choose between a love or an arranged marriage.At 25, the murmurs becomes louder and more insistent and by the time she is 26, she is married. Her parents let out a sigh of relief ?Chalo, beti ki shaadi kar di?.The young lady goes on with her life, trying to balance her career or marriage or children or whatever. By the time she is in mid-thirties, she is a mother of a six-year old.
Now imagine another scenario. Another society. Another country.The moment the young lady becomes 18, she is an adult (Very unlike India, where she is still treated like a child). She starts living on her own, having relationships, going out on dates and gets married when someone comes along and proposes to her and she accepts. The parents are told of the decision and of course, there are festivities. But what if no one proposes marriage ?What if she jumps in and out of relationships with men, hoping something will materialize.
And nothing materializes.
Days pass, then months and then years.
Numerous dates and countless affairs later, she is in her mid-thirties and no marriage yet. She lives alone and counts the tick-tock, tick-tock of her biological clock go by. . She has only a few more years to become a biological mother. Then her time will be up. Her friends and family meet her and ask her about her non-existent love life while she tries hard to be flippant about it. She can either go mad or write a humorous, witty diary about her life.
And call it : Bridget Jones? Diary.
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Theme :This book is exactly what its name suggests. A simple day to day narration of a single woman?s life. By writing about her day from morning to night, she describes her moods, her frustrations and her little joys. She writes about the men in her life and her turbulent relationship with her parents who are themselves on a brink of a separation. She describes her friends, who are her strongest supports and call themselves the urban singletons.
The singletons huddle together against attacks on their lonely lives and live in dread on the impending holiday seasons like Christmas and Thanksgiving. They live bravely, dodging questions on their single status defiantly and wait for the day when they will become ?smug marrieds?and have children who look like they have stepped out of chic advertisements of Ralph Laurent.
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Readability :Fluid and easy. You will sail through the book, laughing and guffawing every five minutes. It?s that funny. Bridget Jones has a wry sense of humor and an ability to laugh at herself which is almost infectious. You will feel affectionate towards her as she clowns around trying to cook the perfect meal and failing miserably (I can identify with that one !).You will feel like sympathizing with her when she goofs up trying to find her Mr. Right (And God knows, there is no Mr. Right. All you can find is Mr. Right now). .
Go grab this book, settle down and enjoy yourself. It?s absolutely fantastic.
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Trivia :There?s a movie called ?Bridget Jone?s diary? adapted from this book and made in 2001. It starred Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. I have heard that it was super as well but I have yet to watch it myself.
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P.S. After reading it, I felt relieved that I am an Indian woman.
