A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
- Review-
Even after twenty seven years since its initial release, the essence of Vikram Seth’s literary genius refuses to die down.
‘‘……Lata, stood still, holding the receiver. Some people understood her far too little and others far too much.’’
From my perspective, this couple of sentences reflect most, the intricacies raging though the life of a 19 year old girl. The book opens up with the wedding of Lata’s sister Savita to Pran Kapoor and how Mrs Rupa Mehra confirms her maternal authority in finding a similar suitable boy for her younger daughter Lata as well. The normal hustle during a marriage ceremony with relatives piping in with gossip, Mr and Mrs Mahesh Kapoor and Mrs Rupa Mehra making sure their guests were at ease, the emotionless priests instructing the rituals to the bride and the groom, children, including Bhaskar playing unmindful of their surroundings and youngsters like Lata and Malati laughing over their inside jokes present a very relatable Indian wedding to us and is just a slight hint of the literary treat that awaits us as we proceed further into the novel.
Brahmpur, the epicenter of all happenings in the novel is yet another Indian town bearing the centuries old Indian culture in the form of mahals, festivals, and temples. Covering almost all topics of significance in 1952 India, including politics, land reforms, religious tensions, apprehensions within the political party in power, princely states, poetry, literature, the elite Calcutta parties, and the foreign companies dominating the Indian market, A Suitable Boy has beautifully traced the lives of it’s many characters over a span of eighteen months. Vikram Seth has once again shown us the impact of sarcasm by depicting a typical Indian family and it’s various relatives with a tinge of amusement accompanied by words with a profound presence that can weave gold out of straw.
While Mrs Rupa Mehra might often remind you of your own mother with her conservative opinions and underrated motherly love, Haresh Khanna might remind you of your successful, but boastful relative or friend or even acquaintance. While Malati might bring to you, your best friend who is also your confidante, Savita can easily pass for a responsible elder daughter who can placate the tantrums of their middle-aged mother. To narrate, there are many characters, like the spoiled son of Mr Mahesh Kapoor, Maan Kapoor, the internationally acclaimed poet Amit Chatterjee with admirers pouring in and Pran Kapoor who is the replica of an educated young man with a tolerance which is not common at a time when male chauvinism was considered most ordinary. Lata the protagonist, tethering at the threshold of her womanhood, is a very relatable 19 year old whose complexities and slowly emerging individuality has been beautifully brought out.
This novel which is one of the longest to have been written in the English language in a single volume, has in it’s most creative form, given life to even the regular customary Indian ways. Written by a poet who is known for his sense of sarcastic humor, it would be a great folly from the readers’ part to just settle down for a mere satirical and funny narrative. Because, A Suitable Boy sheds lights on much graver incidents of exploitation, prostitution, insecurity, feudalism and power mongering. But what makes Vikram Seth stand out is that all these aspects have been brought so effortlessly to our conscience that it refuses to be brushed aside as saddening elements of a society that existed before us. And the author has also shown a very versatile sense of storytelling where conflicting opinions are presented interestingly in a very impartial manner that teaches the most fundamental lesson of being tolerant to every perspective. The conversation between Ila Kaki, a fiercely exaggerated rationalist and the spiritually inclined Dipanker, or Mrs Rupa Mehra’s reservations about the flamboyant ways of Meenakshi and her sister Kakoli or even the intense yet polite political rivalry between Mr Mahesh Kapoor and LN Agarwal are just a few instances of opposites that are made parallel.
But this 1535 paged book is not a mere light-hearted satire. Arun Mehra is a stinging depiction of rude people with a snobbish air. Meenakshi Mehra shows us the immoral side prevailing behind polished parties at the Calcutta club. Varun Mehra reminds us that family should first give us confidence. Tapan Chatterjee, though a young lad with unfortunate experiences, opens the evergreen feeling that siblings are the only people after your parents who will own your problems as their own. Saeeda Bai shakes us out of prejudices and asserts that each person lives according to their own rules, however unacceptable it may seem to us. And controversial it may seem, but Kabir Durrani brings us to the reality that once you place your ambition at the top, you should be willing to lose anyone for the sake of it. It may be selfishness at the moment. You will be broken. But sooner or later things will become better as a reward for the courage you showed to let go of people who, back then, seemed precious to you. Only for the sake of your higher goals.
Vikram Seth’s liking for Calcutta is evident from Amit taking Lata to Victoria Memorial, the Botanical Gardens, Park Street and so on. The tranquility by the side of the Hooghly River, the evening rides along the streets of the ancient city adds a romantic hue to the novel. The dusty Rudhia and it’s traditional population presents a different view. But beyond all this, comes the old town along the banks of Ganga, the beautiful Barsat Mahal and the rustic by -lanes of the one and only Brahmpur.
On a personal note, it is Mrs Mahesh Kapoor who has touched me most deeply. The regret of Mr Mahesh Kapoor upon the death of his wife makes us realize never to take anyone granted in life and that absence is what makes a person more precious. Her transcending yet subtle influence on her children and her heart broken death when Maan is sent to jail ends on a universal truth that very few can love you beyond your mother.
A Suitable Boy carries with it, a charming writing style, a very enriching use of the language and the nineteen chapters end on a thought provoking note which makes it nearly impossible to close the book. A masterpiece of one of the most celebrated writers of contemporary India, this long novel by Vikram Seth takes us to another realm of love, expectation, anger, guilt and friendship even as it gracefully beckons the deepest recesses of our minds.
