The Inhertiance of Loss : Book Review

The Truth is apparent.
All you need to do is to reach out and pluck it.

Well these last lines of the book, very much summarizes the entire 324 pages of literary treatise that Kiran Desai has filled in her second book "The Inheritance Of Loss". The book is also about stressing the importance of the present time. Today, its all here, live it the way you like. Future and past are nothing but a notion, Truth is the day today. It is apparent, you just need to reach out to enjoy its blessings.

Each Character has a story

The story of the book is about 5 main characters and a few supporting characters, none of whom have the strength of this 'reaching out'.

The story is about...

Jemubhai and Mutt...

The story is about a cynical retired Judge, Jemubhai Patel, who lives his life in past and is carrying his pompous attitude born out of luxury of yesterday in his life after retirement. It is about him who has seen the world and has hated every bit of him. His travels through the village Piphit, to cambridge, through the struggle of independence that he did not fight, to this point of biting loneliness of Kallimpong, had forced and reinforced his hatred over and over again. The only thing that he has loved in his life, has shared any emotion with, has allowed to come near was his dog, Mutt. A powerless old man showering all his love on the only object of his affection, a self less, speech less, loving animal.

Sai and Gyan...

The story is about Sai and Gyan.

Sai is Jemubhai's grand daughter, born to his daughter whom the judge considered to be nothing more that an unwanted responsibility. Sai, is the story of blossoming of love like the one that runs across the pages of "Romeo and Juliet", story of a girl who has neither seen the world nor wants to know about the real world. She is happy in her own abode, searching happiness in the future.

Thinking about herself with her Mathematics teacher Gyan, a Nepali in the valley which eventually turns from Valley of love to Valley of a Mutiny and, he from a lover to a rebellion. Sai is an english speaking sophisticatied girl and has seen the world through the National Geographic Magazines and the English Novel. Gyan on the other hand is a simple underprevileged poor Nepali living in Kallimpong. He lives a pseudo life teaching Mathematics to Sai, and learning unadulterated love in return. His life is torn between his love for the sophisticated rich Indian girl who lives her life (as his freinds might say) at expense of the poor and a rebellion company of Nepalis, his own people fighting against all that Sai represented.

The story is about her, who is weaving around him thoughts of future and making it her life and the story is about him, who has a gigantic responsibilities of his past in which he lives and from which he runs away to live a pseudo-joyful life with her every now and then. It is about the both of them, the time that they spent together and the times that they spent thinking over the repurcurssions of it over their lives.

The cook and his son Biju...

The story is about the cook and his son Biju.

The Cook, whose name you might not even realize till the end as he represents more of a class and less of a person. A downtrodden mean class of a low class servant that the rich have dominated over years in this country. Biju, a part of the cook pannalal, represents his desires. He is the young bright lad of the cook, who in search of a better life, opportunity, and fortune makes his way illegaly to the land of opportunity, the US of A. The story is about Biju's travel through all that his father suffered back in India, suffering it all over again in the land of individualistic strangers. The story is about these unprevileged people fighting to get back their dignity, struggling to make a life more than their livelihood.

The story is about Lola, Noni, Father Booty, Uncle Potty, in India, and Saeed Saeed, Harish-Harry, and Biju's roommates in US, all separated by the distance but common for their situation living in a land which they dont find to be their own, living life that they dont want to live, thinking always about the better times, past or future. The story is about Judge's bunglow Cho Oyu, Lola and Noni's Mon Ami, the dirty Thapa Canteens of Kallimpong and the insurgent anger within, the Gandhi Cafe and myriads of other restaurants whose basement crushes the hopes of fortunes of many in the dirt and filth. The story is about the communities, Nepalis, Indians, Indian Americans, Lepchas, Benaglis, Upper class, Lower class, City dwellers, rich , Slums, downtrodden. The story is about people with self respect and no dignity and people with dignity but no self respect.

The story is this and much more.

It is this vast canvas that Kiran Desai paints her creation on which makes it a journey worth traversing. Reading this book has invoked different emotions from me at different points as I went through the story travelling across to the other part of India to Kallimpong and then travelling all the way to other part of the world, New York. The book is not about the beauty and grandeur and differences between the two places where the book is set. It is rather about the similarities that exist. It is about the common problems that both the places, Kallimpong representing a third world country and New York representing the first world has. Its less about the love and more about the hatred that spans in the hearts of people, its about the fences that all of us create in our lives and just live within those.

Hence, the story at a Global level deals with the divide amongst people, globalization, at a psychological level explores our tendency to live in times that we want to, at a philosophical level deals with all that we wrongly do, at theological level questions the very faith that divides people.

It is this multi-level address that book hits correctly and needs to be appreciated for.

But...

But there were a few things that I thought Desai, painted with wrong mix of colours.

• In the early part of book, the book traverses time from 80s to 60s and to early 40s in every two paragraph, shuttling from one era to another, From one place on the earth to another. Reader might feel lost and puzzled and might just miss the whole point that is being made. It happend with me and I found those 50 odd pages a little irritating.
  
• Another one is the use of language at certain places, which trying to get narrative on bottoms and shit, and taking creative freedom moves crudely arousing a definite feeling of disgust.
  
• At a point there is a monotony of everyone living in thoughts more than the real life.
  
• But above all what I felt was missing was a pure Indian touch. The book it seems caters more to the world audience and less to the Indian audience. A community of people reading National geographic, Speaking English to communicate, Listening to audio CDs, drinking, living luxuriously without any big income, in 80s in the secluded town of Kallimpong overlooking Kanchenjunga might not be very convincing for an Indian reader. So were many other things. There were flaws for sure at a level of connecting to Indians and their thought process.
  
• Most noticable flaw that I thought (some might find it highly creative) was the end. Just when you think that everything is moving towards a dark, gloomy, mega climax, Just when you want to read on and know what happened to the characters, the story abruptly ends. It does not give any end to any of its characters except Biju. Strange, weird and not up to the mark considering the wonderful writing skills that she displays in the earlier pages.

Overall, Even with its flaws its a book worth a read. A book that might get you thinking at many points on many issues.

3* for the overall impact it had on me.