BOOK REVIEW : The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

Authors are very special people who have the rare talent of creating stories out of events occurring in our regular lives. With their magical wand i.e. their pens they breathe life into the stories with such real characters that we start believing in their existence and living their lives for a short span. 

Jhumpa Lahiri is one such accomplished author. Her characters are so believable that one can easily relate, empathize with them.

The Lowland is another beautiful creation of hers'. 

This is a story set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement which had rocked West Bengal in the 60's and the early 70's. It is about two brothers Subhash and Udayan who are born just fifteen months apart . Though the  brothers are very close and are always together, their nature and temperaments are polar to each other. Where Subhash is quiet, responsible, always towing to the line, Udayan is the risk taker, challenging the societal rules and very impulsive. Once they grow up, the brothers become distant, each choosing his own path- Subhash going away to America to pursue a  life of scientific research and Udayan getting drawn into the Naxalite movement.Subhash returns back to India after he gets the news of Udayan's death. Back in India Subhash feels betrayed by the sudden and mysterious death of Udayan. For the first time in his life Subhash leaves his sensible side and on an impulse gets married to Gauri, Udayan's wife, taking her to America to start their lives anew. But life is never as simple as we want it to be. It throws unexpected twists in the lives of Subhash and Gauri as they try to make a life for themselves in a new territory amidst the omnipresent memory of Udayan and the unclear events surrounding his sudden death.

The story progresses through the lives of these central characters across India and America, with them growing old, living with their guilt, regrets and some deep hidden truths that never let them sleep peacefully in nights.

Lahiri ends the book not with a happy ending but on a positive note, because we all know that life is not a movie or a classic mills and boon story which has a picture perfect end. It is rather an always moving forward journey where we take along the good memories and experiences, leaving behind all that saddens and hurts us.

This book just like our lives is not perfect but is sure worth a read to be able to appreciate Lahiri's deep understanding of the human psyche. We are the most complex creatures as we are not drawn not only by our basic need of food, clothing and shelter but also by our emotional, mental and deep psychological needs.

BOOK REVIEW : The Blind Man's Garden by Nadeem Aslam

The Blind Man's Garden by Nadeem Aslam 

"The Blind Man's Garden" - the title was what made me read the synopsis of this book and place an order for it. And from here a new literary journey began. As expected I was counting the days till l had this book in hand. I got this book delivered two weeks back and since then we have been inseparable. But this book was unlike others in the sense that I could not connect with it from the very first page. The first 100 pages or so were an ordeal and I had almost given up on it. But slowly and skilfully like a magician this book put a spell on me. It is primarily a love story told amidst the ruins of humanity, a sad but true outcome caused by greed, an intense hunger for power and lack of tolerance towards fellow beings.
The story is set in Heer, a small town in Pakistan. Rohan, a retired school headmaster lives in a beautiful house named the Ardent Spirit with his son Jeo and daughter in law, Naheed. The story is set in the present times where the Americans are in Afghanistan trying to hunt down Al-Qaeda post 9/11,with the support of the Pakistani government and how the civilians are caught between the pro-government and the anti- government establishments. This book emphasises on the extreme difficulties faced by the common man in his very existence both in Pakistan and in Afghanistan. Aslam takes the readers right in the middle of the war affected zone, when Jeo and his foster brother go to Afghanistan to look after the wounded civilians. The moment they enter Afghanistan, they get kidnapped by the local warlords. The twists and turns in the lives of these two men from the lush greens of Heer, to the hide outs of the Al-Qaeda in the hilly terrains of Afghanistan to the  prisons in America is very harsh but real at the same time. It is very scary and chilling to read how a few powerful men are exploiting the common citizens either to extract money from the Americans or to weaken the partnerships between the local government and the Americans in their fight against Al-Qaeda.
Aslam is a compelling author who weaves a beautiful but hard hitting tale which catches you in its web quite effortlessly. The way he describes the Ardent Spirit is so magically beautiful that it makes me want to live in such a aesthetically pleasing house. Aslam's love for the nature with its lush greenery, sweet smelling flowers, the ripe juicy fruits and the colorful insects abound is evident from the many descriptions. At the same time he doesn't hesitate to write about the cold and heart wrenching reality of the war zone.
As with all love stories this book also ends on a positive note. It stresses on the one thing which inspires man to move ahead in life - Love and Hope. There is a line from one of Wamaq Saleem's poems that Aslam uses in his story which sums up the book. It says, " Love is not consolation, it is light" .