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May 19, 2002
REVIEW: Love tangles
ACCIDENTS like love and marriage is not profound reading. The most appropriate expression — if I were to give a one-word summation — for the book would be, ‘amusing’. Since Jaishree Misra’s first novel is at present not at hand for me to draw comparisons with her Accidents will have to be judged purely on its own merit and on the basis of the lines contained within.
The back cover of the book comments that it is a “ribald, good-natured story of love in Delhi”. It is a good-natured story and that is all. There are no extreme moments — of hilarity or of horror or misery. It brings out routine emotions, which are part of almost every human being’s existence at various times in his/her life in a very ordinary way. However,the mere simplicity of these emotions or human traits, make them potent. The routine influences of love and rejection; faith and infidelity; autocratic superiority and middle class mediocrity somehow look more absurd and enhanced because of the normal kind of surroundings in which they occur in this book.
Revolving around an uptown Delhi household, the book takes little time in weaving a plot. Actually there is no plot. As pointed out earlier, it is just a narration of mundane matters, particularly over-emphasized to bring out their importance. If we were to reflect upon our own emotional turmoils — be it the first crush or the first heartbreak, the first professional breakthrough or the first academic achievement — they would all seem to have equally important significance at the time. For all of us, every new pleasure or pain will continue to hold its own little magnitude in time, with the flow of emotions dictated by the circumstance at hand, taking up our entire being. That is how life passes us by and that is the simple theme of Accidents; like love and marriage.
The affluent Sachdev household is where the story begins and where the story ends. In between the first and the last page, like background music, characters create their own rhythm (or cacophony, if you like) as they gradually entangle themselves in love and deceit. Swaran Sachdev is the dragon lady of ample girth (her proportions are explained in great detail), who heads the household where reside one husband, two sons, one daughter-in-law and the loyal servant (nurturing an absurd liking for her — bordering more on lust). Other characters who drift in and out include the elder son’s in-laws and the daughter-in-law’s brainy and gorgeous friend who enters midway in the story to turn the background music into a din by unconsciously making Swaran’s second son fall deeply in love with her. That is where the imbalance begins as she happens to be of humble, Madrasi origin, an aspect abhorrent to the haughty Swaran.
Inconsistent tenses — sudden shifts between past, present and future references are a plenty here — and over dramatized stage comedy-like scenarios keep the momentum going and interest alive in this very simple story. Inane moments are suddenly made profound by giving minute details to mindless bits and pieces. It reads:
“Swaran is preparing for a visit from her samdhin. When children of two women marry, they are bonded together by this one word that indicates, all at once, the jealousies, the comparisons, the careful calculations of their children’s time spent at one place or the other. It is generally not a happy relationship....But these are motions one must go through once one’s children are married. Kammy feels obliged to make that once a month visit, gritting her teeth, preparing herself for Swaran’s litany of complaints about life in general while she passes on her greasy cheese pakoras.
Swaran, on her part, is girding her loins to receive more boring news of Kammy’s social work with those dreary village types. It is a monthly ritual that both women have come to dread but have learnt to put up with because it just has to be done, ji. Only for the sake of the children, ji.”
A great deal of Hindi words have been used. There are a number of references to Pakis, though not derogatorily. Being an easy read, if Accidents manages to strike some familiar chord within you, it can end up being a one night read; if not, you just might put it down after the first chapter, never to pick up again.
Accidents like love and marriage
By Jaishree Misra
Penguin Books, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India.
Website: www.penguinbooksindia.com
ISBN 0-14-302793-x 213pp. Indian Rs250
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