Oct 16, 2006 12:38 PM
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(Updated Oct 16, 2006 12:50 PM)
All day the colors had been those of dusk, mist moving like a water creature across the great flanks of mountains possessed of ocean shadows and depth.Breifly visible above the vapor Kanchenjunga was a far peak whittled out of ice......
The stage is set.
Place;Kalimpong at the foothills of himalyas
Time; Mid 1980s in the background of Nepalese insurgency.
Cast: (Scene1Kalimpong)a Cambridge educated retired judge living with his orphaned daughter,Sai and a cook
Cast scene2; (Newyork)the cook's son biju
story:
'The inheritance' is not a single story.
It is the story of Jemubhai the retied judge with his English biscuits and his hunting rifles.He lives in a crumbling old house,at the foothills of mount Kanchenjunga.
It is the story of saia teenaged girl, an orphan who reaches her maternal uncle's house in the foothills of himalayas.She changes hands from the disciplined nuns to her uncle judge who draws the lakshman rekha within which she should move.The old cook is her only friend.
It is also the story of the old cook whose thoughts always revolve around his son biju in Newyork.He knows nothing of his son's struggle for existence in the land of great opportunities!
The story also involves Gyan the Nepalese tutor who was helping sai with her maths.She soon finds that the young tutor is more interesting than addition,subtraction and factorisation.Slowly their romance blossoms.Soon the harsh realities of life intervenes in their romance.Gyan soon learns a theorem from life.That parallel lines never meet! He finds his true romance in the movement for libration of his homeland, and joins the insurgence.
It is the story of Biju an illegal migrant in Newyork who hops from one dirty kitchen to other in his struggle for survival. and finally he returns home only to find a the vast change that has taken place in the serene hills.
it is the story of exiles at home and exiles abroad.
It is a story of the effects of insurgency on the normal life of aam admi.
The success of an author lies in her ability to connect to contmperory issues,to write about relevent themes.Kiran explores issues like globalisation,insurgency,economic disparity,clash of cultures, clash of generations.and after effects of colonialisation.........These are issues most relevant to us today.
'Inheritance'is a novel that spans continents,generations,religions ,ethinicities and cultures.Kiran transports you from Kalimpong to Newyork with admirable ease.LIke a gifted photographer she has frozen each of the characters into frames and put before you.KIran is not an author who tells a story by watching it from a distance.Throughout the narrative you can feel her presence, her compassion for the characters.
At the age of 35 Kiran has acquired a style quite distinct from other writers of Indian English.More than that she has displayed a rare understanding of human nature ,social problems as well as international issues.
The book is briskly paced, the narrative is easy to follow,and the prose is impressive ,.full of imagery. WORTH READING
P.S.in one of her novels 'Clear light of the day' one of Anita Desai"s characters say
"no one comprehends better than children do , no one feels the atmosphere more keenly and catches the nuances.,all the insinuations in the air,or note those details that escape elders ......................'
Anita desai should be happy.Her child has inherited her rich legacy.I cannot think of a better gift a daughter can give to her mother.(You may recall that Anita was shortlisted for the Booker thrice but missed it.)She must be the happiest mother on earth!
As Salman Rushdie says
'Welcome proof that india's encounter with the English laguage continues to give birth to new children,endowed with lavish gifts.'
