But Manmohan is no Manju: instead, he dreams of finding his place in Kathmandu and leaves his wife with her dour mother-in-law Sawari Devi in Sabaila.
Manmohan had studied at the Banaras Hindu University and dreams of democracy. It is through his eyes that readers see the politics of Nepal and India.
At the beginning of the novel, as the barber’s wife applies mehendi on Meena’s hands, she talks about marriages, mothers and motherland. “The mother and motherland are not like arms or legs of a body, which once decayed can be amputated”, she says. “The mother and motherland are the heart and liver of the body. They cannot be removed. The mother remains, and the motherland too, in daylight and in darkness…. What is mother and motherland to a woman. They are impermanent dreams.” This loss lies likes at the heart of the book, one that is carried through generations and remembered.
The story is personal, fuelled by the memory of her mother’s longing for her home in Nepal. It is addictive, evocative and hunting.
The novel, Smriti Ravindra’s first, traces Meena’s journey to Sabaila from Dharbhanga as he tries to build her life in a country that is not hers. Ravindra brings alive the squelch of Sabaila mud, the mountains of Kathmandu and green of her garden as she writes with longing of the Maddesh experience in Nepal. The politics may be familiar, but Ravindra makes it palpable and real. It is not institutional history that she weaves — the linking of Nepal with India — but one that is remembered and felt. She blends folklore and myths to create a world that is dazzling, populated by women and brought alive with their stories.
And these characters—whether it is Sukumariya, the old babysitter of Sabaila who carries the memory of the struggle of the first Indians who came to Nepal: Keveri, Meena’s mother who lives fiercely when her husband dies: Kumud, Meena’s sister-in-law trying to keep up with the tasks and her twins; Meena, fragile and strong at the same time; or Preeti, who watched her mother unspool—no one is forgettable. The heart beats with these stories, stories that resonate even when you finish reading. (IPA Service)
SMRITI RAVINDRA’S FIRST NOVEL IS A GRIPPING ACCOUNT OF CHURNING IN A NEPALI SOCIETY
THE AUTHOR TELLS A PERSONAL STORY COVERING BOTH INDIA AND KATHMUNDU
Harihar Swarup - 21-06-2023 13:42 GMT-0000
The woman who climbed trees opens with a wedding. Meena 14, stands on a terrace in Dharbhanga eating roasted peanuts when she is told about 21-year-old Manmohan, her future husband. He is first in his family from Nepal to study in India. Her mother, Keveri, claims he is a “prize” and a “project Manju”.