At the
beginning of the year, I had decided to get back to my old habit of reading
books. I have been a voracious reader for quite many years but in the recent times,
due to reasons best described as ‘mid life crisis’, I dropped this hobby. I
even planned to sell the still-wrapped, unread books from my home library, or
give it away. But thanks to a lack of opportunity, I did not act on such heartless
adventures. So, one day `I just opened my book-shelf and picked one unread
book. And the first one to start the year was an interesting book I had bought
some years ago and had forgotten about it, “Some Very Dignified Disclosures” by
author Anumita Sharma.
The first
thing that hits you once you pick up this book, is its title which sounds so
aristocratic. Who gives such titles to books in the era of generation X, Y and
Z? But going through the book, the title is totally justified. The author proves
her mantle more than anyone in her place could. At the start, I wondered how
many days I would take to finish this novel of 253 pages long. And I was
astonished that it took me only 4 days to finish it.
Once I
started reading the books, many things started hitting (surprising) me. I
realized that the story is set in the same part where my hometown is, and even
I share similar kind of family setup in which the protagonist of the book came
from. The protagonist of the book could very well be my neighbor at cthe hometown
I never talked to. I don’t recall any book written by another person from my
hometown or nearby, or from someone from my community or similar, and in the
form of such a wonderful book. But coming ‘close’ to the fictitious central
character, I can definitely judge the story, its characters, themes and
cultural nuances better. And I would give 10/10 to this book. Or even 15 out of
10 if it were possible.
Next
thing which hit me was the fact that we are used to read novels written by male
writers and protagonists are typically male too; and it is easier for readers
like me to identify with a man as the story goes on. But here, the protagonist
was not only a girl; but a girl who looked at everything from such a different
perspective and reacted in such a different manner, that I could not “go along”
with the character even for few moments. There are male characters in the book,
but none of them are righteous or of some virtues.
I have
never come across someone who wrote a novel in this kind of language (English).
Simple and mundane things are given color and purpose, thanks to the keen eyes
of the writer. The book deserves a Booker Prize and nothing less. Let me give
some examples and excerpts, picked randomly:
“Two days
later Uncle returned, too, like a ghost himself, he looked lost, his brown
trousers sagged, and white shirt was splattered with mud. He had grey-black
stubble, his moustache dropped, half moons under his sunken eyes were bigger
than the sun, he looked like an overripe mango, squelched and bruised. He wasn’t
bad to look at, his height was medium, nose almost Grecian, his eyes were brown
as I remembered, and he had a cleft chin.” (Page-91)
Those who
say that “a picture tells a thousand words”, have not read this book for sure. A
thousand pictures can also not sum up what this author tells in one paragraph
in this book.
The author
does poetic justice with female characters too:
“She gauged
me critically from her bumpy seat in the carriage, opened her mouth to say
something at least twice, but then lapsed into wailing. By the time we reached
the village her howls were louder, so much so, that many people were watching
us from rooftops, and stray dogs were trailing her cart.” (Page 120-21)
Now, if
there was no “stray dog” in above episode, it won’t have the same impact. The
scenes described in this book appear so accurate, elaborate and perfect and
this book is a masterpiece.
The only
thing I can complain about is perhaps the ‘adult’ content in some parts, which
could have been replaced with more subtle descriptions. But having read many
great authors, I think it is part of the parcel, especially since this is "coming of age" story.
Now, having
read the whole story which is captivating, fresh and of great quality, if I try
to analyze few aspects of the central character, Roli, the girl: I was surprised
at the lack of relationships or empathy for other characters in her. For
example, she loses her mother whom she idolizes and the purest and deepest love
between a daughter and a mother has been described so well in this book. But, the
daughter does not miss her father at all! She hardly remembers him, hardly feels
any sympathy while he rots in jails and his whole life is wasted due to a moment’s
mistake and crime which happened in the heat of the moment. I expected the girl
to show some change of heart when she grows older, but no; she is not ready to
change. She shows the same lack of empathy towards her brother too. She definitely
cares about him, that is why she notices when he wanders behind his ‘new mother’
like a pet, but was it not necessary for him to get some affection? When she
lost her mother to fate, and then father to the law, her baby brother lost his
mother and father too. While she had a greater understanding of things around
her, the boy was merely a baby when the disaster happened. Later, when he fell
into drugs, again she sees but does not try to stop him. And in the end, when
she has a good job in the city, I expected her to try to take her brother and
stepmother away to the city to live with her, but she merely visited the
village to “see” how things were with no intention to “help” change the
situation. That was apathetic. If she tried but they did not allow her to help
them, it was a different matter. But she did not even try. Not even to help her
brother. Plus, she talked about feminism and its influence, but looking at the
manner in which she hated her step-mother who was a woman too, and pitied a
poor woman Chandra as if she was less than a human in terms of dignity, it does
not look well. If she could not help or feel sympathy for male characters like
father/brother, it could be understood. But no sympathy for her stepmother and women
like Chandra shows that she was a victim of ‘bias’ too due to which society
looks down on certain members.
“Some very
dignified disclosures” is a splendid novel and I highly recommend it for a fresh, captivating read.
- Rahul
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