Nov 10, 2005 07:12 PM
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(Updated Nov 11, 2005 09:29 AM)
By reading this novel I have made another conscious effort on understanding and appreciating the Indian authors…and it has paid off…Indian authors have a very desi feeling to the whole storyline which makes it easy to relate to…but then there is a distinct disadvantage to it as well…the outsider who reads this book may find it difficult to comprehend the situations, dilemma’s and the undercurrent….also there is a conscious effort on showing the negatives more than the positive…
Coming to the novel, the first thing that attracted me to this novel, was the title…unusual but apt…the novel was a shortlist for the booker prize 1999 and it was worth the nomination…It is a study of Indian culture at length…vice versa the culture abroad...
The main characters in the novel are:
The Parents
Uma
Aruna
Arun
Patton’s Family
Talking about the parents first…they are the typical parents you would find in India…working dad who has only two desires…one is for a son which gets fulfilled thankfully and the other is earn enough dowry for the respective son in laws…he wants to fulfil his dreams through his only son which is again a common habit with many dad’s…mom is a housewife working her way out with limited income & endless household chores…she just experiences two emotions…. burden of two daughters and pride of getting a son!....
The parents would definitely remind many of us of similar set up at home…the usual bickering of mom’s about what to do and what not to do, endless moments where we feel that the world should come to an end….and even sometimes wishing “to hell with mom and dad”….I need my life!!!
The central character of the novel is no doubts Uma…the eldest one…she is clumsy and has no major achievements to her credit except that she took care of his small brother and failed her school exams regularly…the black sheep of the family on which nobody has any hopes…but the character does evoke sympathy…the life which she leads has not been chosen by her but gifted to her by her family…her only fault is she obliged them….another similarity with a lot of us…our family sometimes moulds us unintentionally ( many a times intentionally as well)…perhaps the irony of Uma’s past, present and future is felt very strongly in the story…she is engaged twice but both do not lead to a “successful” marriage… and so the enviable happens…her parents decide on not marrying her off…she lives her life as a spinster who is flaccid in her happiness…
Aruna is happy character in the plot…she is someone who knows how to get things done and is successful in everything she does…that’s what her parents think about her and is proud of the fact that she managed to get married and that too with a person who is rich and non fussy…again a stark reality in our society wherein the only achievement of a women sometimes is carrying off a marriage…
Arun…the pride of the family…because he is the only son who would study hard, land up in a good job, find a suitable wife and eventually carry the name of the family forward…he is the only one who goes abroad for higher studies and is trying to cope up with all the responsibilities and expectations which is becoming more of a burden for him…he is living with the Patton’s family which reminds him of the his family each day…he is sensitive but not emotionally attached to either his family in India or to his surrogate family in America…
Patton’s family is the typical American family comprising of the parents and kids, all doing what they want to do…no dependencies, no interferences from anyone…relaxed parenting leading to behavioural problems with the daughter, Melanie…she is in her own shell which is enveloped in her unhappiness…
There are other characters as well like Anamika who has a tragic end in a disastrous and claustrophobic marriage…she is a character which runs parallel but is not all over the story…she dies a silent death like many in our country…
Fasting Feasting is a bleak book by all standards…the words, situations and the character evoke sympathy but you don’t feel for them…as in they are mere characters for the readers…the style is lucid and simple…the novel is correct in its treatment and the contrasts have been worked out well accurately …but the novel doesn’t make for a happy reading…and I personally prefer books with happy endings…
Fasting and Feasting is relevant as the title though…Fasting, symbolises deprivation, unhappiness and tragedy of one daughter Uma in India…Feasting is the celebration of the opulence of America and of the daughter living there…
The novel also conveys the message that parents, siblings, family ties, country boundaries are all threads that bind us as human…these are ties which are not made by choice…we inherit them and live with them…there must be a way out for some of us to leave these ties behind…some of us find it…some don’t!!!
