Picked up this novel by Malathi Chandoor driven by the positive review by an acquaintance. But I'm extremely disappointed. In fact, I'm so outraged by the novel. The writing is good but the story and the message it conveys didn't ring well with me. I'm actually impressed by her portrayal of lead characters in the first half of the story and didn't quite understand how she could degrade her characters to such an extent in the later half. The story is about a couple with liberal views and high individuality. They undergo civil marriage against the wishes of their families and stick to their principles through thick and thin. But for not too long, it turns out to be. The change in the husband is gradual and the wife gets puzzled over this but could do nothing about it. All this is well and good but here comes the shift: the husband gets involved in illicit affairs. What is truly disconcerting about this is that the wife keeps quiet about it despite her obvious displeasure. The usual reasons are given : family, kids etc. Her world shatters when the husband declares that he needs to go for second marriage as the object of his illicit pleasure is pregnant and he is morally obligated to marry and protect her and the offspring. He stresses that he has no other choice and is clearly aware of the pain it causes to the wife. He assures that he cares for her a lot and that's the reason why he informed her about his decision before acting. (Ridiculous!) Indeed, the wife's world shatters, and she goes into severe depression and finally takes solace in the teachings of a swamiji and finds a purpose to her life (social service).
Given the strong character of the wife, it isn't clear why the author didn't make her stand up for herself. The wife undergoes a lot of turmoil, hates the husband (actually, the opening and ending notes of the story convey her feeling of resentment towards him), hates the life in general. The most atrocious of all is the view that "men have such weakness by their biological structure, they can't help it and hence illicit relationships are common and should be ignored". This perspective is conveyed by both the erring husband and god forbid, the swamiji. Swamiji urges the wife to "think" from others' (husband and the other woman) perspective and understand them. He says that separating from the husband is not a solution because the question of self-esteem doesn't come into the picture. The husband still cares for her and is not physically hurting or ignoring the wife. So, the reason why the wife is so devastated is only because her ego had been hurt.
I lost it there. What nonsense is this? What use is the intellect,the reasoning capability, and individualistic character of the wife if she finally accepts the swamiji's advice? (She argues with the husband that "biological differences may exist, but isn't adultery a moral issue and aren't morals same for all?) She isn't happy by no means at the end, but at least she has found the courage to take on life. My question is, why should she? By being with the husband, whether whole-heartedly or not, she seemed to have supported his actions, if only indirectly and after lot of tamasha. The thing is, the husband never feels that he has done anything wrong. The problem arose and he had to trouble the wife only because the other one became pregnant.
The author depicted the inner struggle of the wife commendably and put forth valid points and arguments but she spoiled it all by making her react as she did. One probable reason why it's impossible for the wife to desert the husband is her love for him. He is the world for her and now that he has cheated her (she feels so cheated only when he marries another woman, not during his uneventful affairs), she couldn't bear it. So, what about his love for her? Is it possible to simultaneously love the wife and be promiscuous? (The novel seems to say so.) If so, what kind of love is it? Is that valid?
A perfect story with flawed message.
