Yellow

This post is a follow up to this one. Seeing yellow branches in nature has inspired me to write this post. To understand the significance of yellow, please read this post, before you read the following book review.

Book review of: A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

      We are living in strange times. The East is becoming like West. With a deep recession in North America, the financial expert, Suze Orman says that Americans are going to become a value oriented society, in which they will be known by who they are and not by what they have. In short the West is becoming like East, as the economy tries to bottom out. In the pastiche of such an environment, its great to read a book, which is a throwback to a time, when the east was purely east. So here is a review of the above named book from my perspective.

      Imagine going back to your home country and eating a great dessert, made by your mother. She has cooked it for a long time on slow fire, with tons of ghee (clarified butter) and fresh ingredients rich in flavor. Then she garnishes it with dry fruits, solidified condensed milk and silver foil. It has in-built lingering flavors of sweet spices like cardamom, nutmeg and saffron. You take one bite and it throws you into a trance and you say,  ” Wahi swad jo hai barso say yaad” (same great taste that I remember from years ago).

      Then when you come back to your adult home, you make the same dessert with the same great recipe. But you replace the high calorie ingredients with low-fat stuff. You cook it in less time and more efficiently using your modern appliances. And voila, you have the same great taste with far lesser calories and it is healthier too!

      Well, that is what Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ feels like. Let me explain it in literary terms. The content is purely eastern for it brings forth Premchand’s eastern sentimentality and the poetic sensuality of Tagore. But the way it is crafted is very western. For one, it is extremely gripping. How gripping? I was just checking it out at the library and before I knew it, I spent three hours reading it. Next I devoured the entire book in three days! It has the gripping power of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. The story spans over 30 years and the speed at which it moves and the plot unfurls has a Dan Brownesque quality to it. In short, it blends the richness of eastern flavors with the efficiency of western craft in writing. When I read it, it evoked memories of old black and white Hindi movies, that I had long forgotten e.g.

• Mother India – for its descriptions of the hardships faced by a mother.
• Do Bhiga Zamin - for its bonds and bondages of a family.
• Garam Hava –  for its playful friendship between young lovers and
• Old Raj Kapoor films –  for its portrayal of humanity.

      The story is very simple. Mariam, the 15 year old illegitimate daughter of a maid servant is married off to a 45 year old man, called Rashid, when her mother commits suicide. It is an arranged marriage, where it is silently assumed that the man will provide Mariam with food, clothing and shelter. In return, she will cook his meals, do his laundry and do all the housekeeping. Love is not a part of this equation. But when she cannot bear him a child, he ill-treats her and even puts stones in her mouth to eat. Events happen and in a fit of lustful greed he brings home a second wife, Laila. But now Rashid is 60, Mariam is 30 and Laila is 15!

      The story is set against the backdrop of over 30 years in Afghanistan. It spans a constantly changing political landscape varying from Mujahidin, the Russian occupation, the Taliban rule to Hamid Karzai’s leadership. The media tells you a lot about this nation, but it takes great fiction like this to explore the depth of pain that the common man experiences in this nation. The story is about the evolution of relationship between Mariam and Laila. It explains how they bond in their common misery and hatred towards the beast of a man, who is their husband.  The structure of the story contains two love triangles, which intersect at Laila. When these triangles meet, the story makes a dramatic turn. It tells you how Mariam with little education and very little love in her life, uses religion as an anchor to guide her in life. Whereas Laila with slightly more education and plenty of love, creates a better tomorrow for herself, at the cost of Mariam!

      The flow of narration is simple, clear and very linear. And then it twists and twists dramatically as the story progresses. The author spills out all the secrets to the reader but hides it from the characters. The timing and the way these secrets are revealed to the characters, is what creates moments of high drama, tenderness and sheer terror. As for yellow, one can find it in the silent suffering and tolerance of women in Afghanistan. The author has brought forth the poverty and hardships created by war. But what outshines it, is the invisible wealth hidden in the character of its women. Its present in the form of compassion, kindness, sympathy, forgiveness and the ability to draw love out, from others. In conclusion, this book is like a great dessert, the taste of which will last in your mind for many years to come.

Ratna

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FYI: Last year on this blog, around this time you read, Tulip Shoots