Not the real Bombay. Review on Love and longing in Bombay - Vikram Chandra

The five tales that make up the book are set up in one city of India, Bombay. Now the city has been renamed Mumbai, but let us not get bothered by it. Love and Longing in Bombay has been authored by Vikram Chandra but I have not read any other book by him.

Bombay or Mumbai is a city that evokes many images, crowded local trains, dirty sea beaches, waves of traffic and a busy night life. It is also know as a city where dreams are made, because many come there in search of employment or to make a name for themselves in the film industry of India, Bollywood.

This was a gift to me from a dear friend, and I impatient to start with it. I found this book quite readable but not outstanding. The readable part comes from the stories being written very well but somehow to me it looked as if they lack depth.

There are five stories in the book named Dharma, Shakti, Kama, Artha, and Shanti. All the five words above come from the ancient Indian language Sanskrit. Dharma means religion or duty. Shakti is power. Kama translates as sex, Artha means economic or of money and Shanti is peace.

Dharma is the story of a fearless Major, who has shown great deeds in the battlefield and seems to be without a care in the world. But beneath this tough exterior lies a man who is haunted by a private grief- unable to confront it- so much so that it takes the shape of a ghost.

The story is well written, both about the major and his army days and also about the home where he comes to live in Bombay and his ghost. The language used literally creates the battlefields and the small house in front of the eyes but I am not particularly fond of ghost stories as they rather remain unbelievable, so I quickly went on to the next story.

Shakti is the story of the rise of an ordinary girl in Bombay to the- what we know as- high society. Our heroine Sheila Bijlani is a pretty airhostess, who marries a man of wealth and wants to be accepted in the Bombay high society. She is ridiculed by her arch-rival because she is neo-rich. Later in the story Sheila?s son and her rival?s daughter fall in love. There is opposition from the girl?s family but Sheila finds ways to circumvent all that stands between her families happiness.

This story is more suited to be converted into a Bollywood movie rather than a good book. Sheila as a person or the society, in which the story is set, fails to get me involved. Their fights, grievances and triumphs seem quite trivial. This is not to say that rich cannot have their sorrows, but those depicted in the book fail to evoke any empathy in me. But then again, the use of language is superb as ever. All the parties thrown at various places come alive and haunt you if you are reading the book on an empty stomach.

Kama is the story about a Sikh policeman Sartaj Singh and his marriage falling apart. The policeman is involved in investigating a death of a rich gentleman whose body is found in a drain in one of the downpours for which Bombay is famous for. The investigation leads him to a story of sleaze hidden in an ordinary couple?s life. Intermingled with this account is the account of Sartaj?s marriage to the girl he loved in college but now cannot get along with. The story is nicely done with a great lovemaking scene but at the same time it is somewhat unbelievable for the simple reason that the kind of lifestyle shown in the book does not seem to match with an ordinary police officer in India. It is way above what is affordable to an honest and upright policeman that our hero of the story is shown to be.

Artha is the story about two gay men Iqbal and Rajesh, and their lives in crowded Bombay. Both live with their parents who have no clue about their son?s orientations. One of them struggles hard to make money so that they can afford some private living space, till now they have to be contented with meeting in crowded buses and parks. Again there is another story within this story, that of a woman who employs our Iqbal and her life. I enjoyed this story most because it brings out the contradictions in modern India quite well. Two people, who cannot declare their orientations, one woman who is struggling hard to set her business, another woman who is quite orthodox and discriminates on the basis of religious affiliations, all interacting together and achieving some kind of balance.

The final story Shanti has railway platform as the backdrop where a drama between two young hearts, Shanti and Shiv is played out. Shanti is in search of her husband and the boy is enamored by this lady. It has a happy ending but that is not quite the essence of the story.

Overall The main strength of the book is its evocative narration that captures the settings of the stories well, be it a police investigation, parties thrown by women in Bombay high society or battles fought with the enemy. But the narration is not matched by depth in stories. I could feel it badly in Shakti where the love story between rival?s kids sounds clichéd and no amount of good language could warm me up to the characters in the story.

I liked Artha best out of the five tales because the characters remain true to their backgrounds and no happy ending is offered. Rest of a the stories are readable once but there is nothing outstanding about them. However, I would recommend this book to be read once simply for the strong narration and to gain a glimpse of Bombay.