Okay, so why do my UK friends get a Kindle version of Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy (and for a mere £1.99 even!) and we have no ebook access over here in the US? I am not much of a fan of ebooks (not that there is anything wrong with them, I just prefer paper books), but I would happily download a Kindle version to read in conjunction with my massive paper copy (see photo above!). I know it all comes down to publishers and licensing, but I can't even get the UK version on my tablet here. It would make life so much easier not to have to carry such a big book around. {Insert martyred sigh here}. But I shall continue. I am really determined this time. I am going to finish A Suitable Boy. And I have been taking it with me every day to work and yes, enjoying it very much, too.
I am finished with Part 2 and ready to press on to new territory. On track as planned. This weekend I will finally be reading past my former attempts. I have just finished read those pages I managed on my first two attempts. That alone is a feeling of accomplishment for me.
Part one was mostly about introducing characters and a wedding and focused mostly on the Mehra family. Part two was mostly about the Kapoors. Lata Mehra's older sister, Savita, married into the Kapoor family. Her husband Pran teaches English at the university where Lata studies literature. But it is Pran's younger brother, Maan, who takes center stage. The section opens with the festival of Holi which occurs in the spring. The idea of a festival brings pictures in my mind of celebrations and happiness and parties and Holi sounds especially colorful and exuberant. Also known as the festival of colors or of sharing love and there is a lot of that in the pages I read. Much dousing of bright colors on one another and partying and imbibing of inotxicating substances--at least in the case of Maan and his friends Firoz and Imtiaz (twins). They indulge in glasses of thandai laced with bhang.
The Kapoor family celebration includes a musical evening with a famed singer and her musicians performing. Saeeda Bai arrives at Prem Nivas, the Kapoor family home with much fanfare. She is beautiful and talented and a singer of Ghazals, which seem rather complicated to me. Just the right words are used in just the right order. A talented or knowledgeable singer (or listener) knows the right refrain or response. It seems like poetry set to music and it can be quite romantic, and all the young men sit listening to Saeeda mesmerized by her talent and beauty.
Maan falls for Saeeda hard. She is, however, a courtesan and perhaps an older woman, too. He sends her a book of poetry and comes to her house hoping for entry. She is an interesting character. She obviously must take care of herself on her own and has to put up with the attentions of wealthy men of less than attractive habits. Eventually he does get inside the door and impresses her in more ways than one. Saeeda must take care of her family, which means a younger, by some fifteen years, sister called Tasneem who has an admirer of her ow--one of Saeeda's retinue of musicians. He even buys her a parakeet. I foresee some potential heartache one way or another--either Saeeda will break a heart or Tasneem will have hers broken.
I love all the cultural bits--hearing about festivals and poetry and clothing and how and where the characters shop. There is a lot of interesting detail and I am noting down words to look up later. It is also interesting seeing the interaction of families and peripheral characters. I am trying to keep track of who is Hindu and who is Muslim and what languages each speak. The Kapoors seem to be Hindus and Saeeda and her sister Muslim. Saeeda can read the poetry in Urdu (from the book given to her) and Maan reads the English translation. At one point they sit side by side to read the book as it is a parallel text. Hmm. Almost like an appetizer, if you will.
In a way this all reminds me of a play by Shakespeare or a modern social comedy. There is an exoticism to it all as well. And a fair bit of drama, too, which moves it all along quite nicely. Even if I do have to lug it about every day (we'll see the state of my paper copy when I finish!) it is a nice even pace I feel like I am going at and so far, never boring.
Part three starts with a phone call answered by Pran who shockingly tells Savita and her mother Rupa that Lata has eloped . . . (am winking at you here . . .). Check back next week to see what happens next!