 HOMESPUN:
By Nilita Vachani
Penguin
Price: Rs 295
Pages: 277
| What happens when the lady of the house takes a piece of cloth woven by Gandhiji and gifted to her satyagrahi husband, and turns it into a kitchen jhadan? Will the marriage survive? Well, it is India on the eve of Independence and Naneeiji, one of the (assumedly many) reluctant wives of freedom fighters, is forced into poverty for "the cause" but, of course, obliged to stay married. No one, however, said she was obliged to be happy, and therein lies her revenge. Making life as difficult as possible for her idealistic husband while dutifully looking after him and raising his children is the only form of retribution she can get away with. And Nanaji, being the basically good (often infuriatingly good) man that he is, takes it-for his lifetime.  |  | Sweta for the most part sides with her grandmother, but when she finds her Nanaji's diaries after his death, things are no longer so black and white. With the diaries begins the unravelling of a family chronicle spanning three generations of three families with interconnected destinies, sweeping across 60-odd years of political reality-Indian soldiers in World War II, Gandhianism and satyagraha; Malcolm X, the 1971 India-Pakistan war; and finally, for the NYC-based Sweta, 9/11. But the story is as much about love, marriage and relationships. It even manages a satiric portrait of the Hindi film industry while delving into issues of class, sexuality and post-colonial cultural identity. A boggling number of ideas jostle for your attention in a short narrative in yet another post-Partition Indian family saga. While it is hard to empathise with any character, they are all believable. It is likely you will recognise someone you know in each of them. Nanaji and Naneeji with their Textile Wars (she secretly stashes silks while wearing khaddar) are quite unforgettable. Perhaps the most inventive thread in the story centres on Mr Ahuja, a film producer with no artistic vision or philosophy save profiteering. Through his utter love for their homemade pakoras, Ahuja manages to pull the Kalra family into his celluloid world with an "Axcellent Awffer" for Ronu, their curly-lashed son. Ronu, a.k.a. "Master Bunty, Five Star Child Star", soon appears in Soldier, a film which, thanks to a ridiculous critical misreading, becomes the defining film of the Independence era... Soon the child star hits puberty, is no longer "cute" and is launched into a new career-but only one befitting the patriotic Master Bunty: the air force. ("No more of this fillum-shillum. No more haramzaada tinsel bakwas... rona-dhona, jaadu-tona, bevkoof-hona... if you want to serve the new India... you will do it with your blood, not Heinz tomato sauce"). Briefly, this is how the plot develops: a boy is chained to an unfair destiny, Sweta finds the truth about her pilot father's mysterious death through his ex-lover Anu and Naneeji seems poised to spend her widowhood enmeshed in the politics of The Bold and the Beautiful. While it is unlikely that Homespun will startle you with its poetry or originality, it will comfort you with familiarity. It is for the most an honest reflection of How It Is, which is always a good thing. |
THE TROUBLE WITH ISLAM TODAY
THE ESSENTIAL DALAI LAMA: HIS IMPORTANT TEACHINGS
RAJ ORATORS: SPEECHES OF EMINENT INDIANS DURING THE RAJ
