A SUITABLE BOY....By Vikram Seth

                                                                         
My friends call me a bookworm and yes,they are right..give me a right one and boy! i can be hooked up to it for hours..It happened a few years ago,i was strolling at the landmark (Books section) and came across this huge,heavy almost 14,00 pages of a novel called A SUITABLE BOY by Vikram Seth...before that i had read only THE GOLDEN GATE by the same author and how i loved it! So i went through the synopsis.Seemed to me like some sort of a family saga about a mother searching for a suitable boy to marry her daughter..with plenty of characters like bhaiyya,bhabi,mama,mami and all thrown into it..

I ve a pretty bad habit that once i start reading a novel,i cant resist finishing it up A.S.A.P so i thought to myself,i cant read this one,it wont end so soon...man 1400 pages!! so i skipped it..Later,i met a few of my peers and they told me about the same book and how they ve loved it and i even got to know that the same book is considered to be a classic and the longest  novel ever published in a single volume in english language which even went on to receive some literary awards like 1994 Best Book, Common Wealth Writers prize and WH Smith literary awards..I went ahead and brought the book only because i thought i should read the longest written novel and then i'd be considered great by my peers ;-)  ... But what i did not consider while starting to read this book was the sheer enjoyement this book would give me so much so that when the finale came near,i almost choked to tears realising how soon this beautiful story will come to an end! i wanted it to go on and on...                                                                                               


I dont think i need to write a detail analysis of the book because m sure it has been read by many and for those who have'nt..just go get it! its a masterpiece..There are very few stories or novels which leaves a lasting impression and this one's truely ve been an unforgettable experience for me,such is the power of the book,the story line,the plots and the sub plots,and most importantly,the characters..You feel like you are reading several novels and several stories going together yet related to each other..


It is set in post-independence,post partition india following the stories of four families intertwined to each other while the basic premise remains a mother's search for a suitable boy for her younger daughter Lata and how Lata comes across three different men in her life (the one she loves Kabir Durrani,the one who's her admirer Amit Chatterji, and the one choosen by her mother Haresh).
The story is set in a fictional city called Brahmpur along with Calcutta,kanpur and Delhi along with other colourful background for the emerging stories..


What is also more intriguing about the novel is that,apart from the family saga (the 4 main families mentioned in the novel are The Mehras,The Chatterjies,The Kapoors and The Khans) and the love story,the novel covers the various issues faced by post-independence India like Hindu-Muslim strife,abolition of zamindari system,empowerment of muslim women and land reforms...
The novel undoubtedly touches the very core of India...from the poor village tenants and land owners,to the middle class, to the highly Anglicised 'high society',it gives us a beautiful picture of OUR India....


Now as i had said before,the novel is filled with characters that lingers on ur mind for a long time,even after many years..
The mother,Mrs.Rupa Mehra's character is filled with sympathetic humour,the relationship between Lata and Kabir leaves a lump in your throat (ok,i admit..i broke down!)..The simplicity,yet so pure relationship between Savita(Rupa Mehra's elder daughter) and her husband Pran.Rupa's two sons,the eldest Arun (carrer driven,egoistic,practical) and youngest,the spineless Varun..Arun's wife Meenakshi (who belongs to the Chatterji clan),the Chatterjis are the most humourous,jovial,poetic (Amit),intellectual and exchanging verse couplets (reminding me of Satyajit Ray's Hirak Rajar Deshe)....The political background of the kapoors,the friendship between the feckless Maan kapoor and Firoz and Maan's falling in love with a mature Muslim courtesan..Somehow,i couldnt relate to Haresh's character at first,workaholic,paan chewing,crass but as the story moved forward i began to understand the simplicity,hard working,honest and practical to the core character of Haresh...
The writing is descriptive,yet is filled with subtle humour along with a detailed peek of the social and political state of the country of that era..But i must admit,i found the court scenes a bit lengthy, provoking me to skip some of the lengthy courtoom discussions...but thats just a bit of it,be patient and u will enjoy even those detailed scenes...

Its a brilliant novel,truely one of a kind,something i ve never read before....Someone has truely said,
What 'Gone With the Wind' might be for the western readers,'A Suitable Boy' could perhaps be for the indians!!
It might sound a bit of an exaggeration,but for me the book had an effect like that of a marijuana,driving me insanely(narcotic'aly'?) crazy ,seriously addictive while i flipped pages after pages...There are novels and there will be many more novels to come,but this one will remain class apart...
Here's waiting eagerly for Seth's sequel to The Suitable Boy titled THE SUITABLE GIRL due for release in 2013