Whoaa.. havent yet seen the movie yet, but read the book on my journey back from bangalore .. Well truth be told.. it did make the otherwise dull 48 hour journey.. livelier..
It indeed was easier for me to trade the hot-humid-noisy S9 55 Bangalore-Jodhpur Express world for the World constantly shuttling between Pemberton Road and Choranghee..
Therez been something distinctly common about the few Indian born english writers I've read so far.. though I fail to collect what is it..
Ashok and Ashima Ganguli's world, their effort to lend some colours of familiarity, to the world around them, indeed touches you .. your heart goes out to them.. in the initial half ..while they try to pull things together .. as they exchange worlds with their children. Bringing them whatever of bengal they've managed to bring from DumDum to Logan International via Heathrow.. and in turn accpeting the bits and pieces of America that their children bring for them - wrapped everyyear at Christmas and Thanks giving.
You cant help but liking Asheema - her simplicity, her longingness for a familiar world- the world she once had, she has in Calcutta which does not have her anymore- the slow and gradual transformation from an Indian daughter and bride to now an Indian-in-America mother.
But it actually is the story of Gogol @ Nikhil Ganguli .. someone whom you could sympathise one moment only to detest a few pages later. His eternal conflict with his name perhaos was more of a conflict with who he is .. ABCD. Moushomi, Gogoles wife for two years was in herself an unresolved puzzle -perhaps unlike Nick (Americanly rechristened) Nikhil's clamourings- her conflict was more intense - her affair with Dimitry, ten year elder american bachelor, her relocation to France, was perhaps her way of defying the norms and coming to terms with herself- just what Gogoles did - when he became Nikhil-Nick or when he moved in with the American girlfriend.
Read it- for perhaps the conflict is universal- perhaps the same could've easily taken place in todays urban delhi.
Read it for the simplicity with which the writer carves each character and for her eye for details.
It indeed was easier for me to trade the hot-humid-noisy S9 55 Bangalore-Jodhpur Express world for the World constantly shuttling between Pemberton Road and Choranghee..
Therez been something distinctly common about the few Indian born english writers I've read so far.. though I fail to collect what is it..
Ashok and Ashima Ganguli's world, their effort to lend some colours of familiarity, to the world around them, indeed touches you .. your heart goes out to them.. in the initial half ..while they try to pull things together .. as they exchange worlds with their children. Bringing them whatever of bengal they've managed to bring from DumDum to Logan International via Heathrow.. and in turn accpeting the bits and pieces of America that their children bring for them - wrapped everyyear at Christmas and Thanks giving.
You cant help but liking Asheema - her simplicity, her longingness for a familiar world- the world she once had, she has in Calcutta which does not have her anymore- the slow and gradual transformation from an Indian daughter and bride to now an Indian-in-America mother.
But it actually is the story of Gogol @ Nikhil Ganguli .. someone whom you could sympathise one moment only to detest a few pages later. His eternal conflict with his name perhaos was more of a conflict with who he is .. ABCD. Moushomi, Gogoles wife for two years was in herself an unresolved puzzle -perhaps unlike Nick (Americanly rechristened) Nikhil's clamourings- her conflict was more intense - her affair with Dimitry, ten year elder american bachelor, her relocation to France, was perhaps her way of defying the norms and coming to terms with herself- just what Gogoles did - when he became Nikhil-Nick or when he moved in with the American girlfriend.
Read it- for perhaps the conflict is universal- perhaps the same could've easily taken place in todays urban delhi.
Read it for the simplicity with which the writer carves each character and for her eye for details.
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