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Priya: In Incredible Indyaa Reviewed by Aditi Garg MUCH has been said and written about the Great Indian Woman, be it in the role of the sacrificing mother, the understanding wife, the scheming mother-in-law or the dutiful sister. A lot of it is still relevant, but not all is as serene as it appears. Time changes everything, and women in India have not been untouched by it. They stand at the confluence of traditional and contemporary times, swayed to either side with equal ease as per the demand of the situation. This change has come about as much from social pressures as from a desire from within. She can be the perfect wife, homemaker or businesswoman, allows herself little indiscretions on the side and ignore her husband’s philandering, if she chooses to. Namita Gokhale is a writer par excellence. Her latest novel Priya applauds her qualities as a writer. She has the amazing ability to rivet the reader and entice them in the lives of her characters. This novel is a sequel to her 1984 bestseller Paro. She is a writer, publisher and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival. She has written Paro: Dreams of Passion, A Himalayan Love Story, Gods, Graves and Grandmother, The Book of Shadows and Shakuntala: The Play of Memories. Her non-fiction works include The Book of Shiva and Mountain Echoes: Reminiscences of Kumaoni Women. Priya
is the quintessential Indian housewife. She has been by her Priya holds on to old
memories like old friends. And her old friends have become mere
memories. Though she is perturbed by her husband’s liaisons, she
chooses to ignore them. She may seem like a fragile housewife but she
stands like a rock through everything. There is so much more to her. The
writer has shown her many facets that go on to prove that her simple
life is anything but that. Her shades of grey do not evoke a negative
response but makes her more human. Though the language is not always
very simple, it does not impede the pace of the novel. Rather it feels
more like a part of the plot. The style of writing raises it above the
realm of chick-lit.
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husband’s
side through his rise from being a lawyer to the dizzying heights of
Delhi’s high-flying political circle. From being a girl from Mumbai,
who had grown up in a one-bedroom apartment, she now has a sprawling
mansion. Her husband’s success has been heady for her and she makes
the best of it while trying to keep a level head. She meets all kinds of
people; those who seek her friendship to reach her husband and those who
want to be seen with her for the sake of it. Then, there are those who
are just plain poisonous. Her life centres around her husband and their
two sons. Her relationship with each one of them has varying shades of
emotions that are insightful. She tries to give her sons space but
cannot resist the temptation to snoop in on them once in a while. And
she is actively involved in the process of finding them the right wives,
though it would not be wrong to say that she is in fact looking for
dutiful daughters-in-law.