Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" , an intricately woven non-linear story that explores the complexities of relationships, has launched me into a journey of inner exploration...
Am I able to connect the dots between my intellect and emotions? Do my small wins and losses mirror the big successes or failures? Do I appreciate enough, the many small gifts and pleasures of life? Am I grateful enough to "the God of small things"?
The setting of the book is a small village in Kerala, India, and the protagonists are the 7 year old fraternal twins- Estha and Rahel. Their mother, Ammu, divorced, rebellious, has an affair with an untouchable man- a Paravan- named Velutha. Ammu's brother Chacko, an Oxford scholar turned business man who manages his mother's pickle factory in the village, invites his ex-wife Margaret and daughter Sophie from London, to spend Christmas with them. However, Ammu's affair is discovered and while she is locked away in punishment, her twins decide to run away. Sophie joins them. The boat in which the children decide to run away, capsizes, and the twins, experts at navigating the Kerala backwaters, survive, but Sophie does not. She drowns and dies. Velutha is blamed, captured and killed, the twins are separated and each, in their own way, endure a disastrous youth. The pickle factory dissolves, and the family slowly but surely disintegrates. 24 years later, the twins meet again in the village, re-discover each other and find inner peace.
The book, which went on to win the Booker prize, had kicked up quite a storm in India when it was first published in 1997- many considered it politically charged (the Communist party of Kerala has a strong influence on the story), while others were morally upset by the shocking details of unacceptable physical relations- those transcending the barriers between "touchables" and un-touchables", and the incest. The real beauty of this book however, woven deep into the layers of prose that has almost peotic beauty, is in the realization that a myriad of emotions, such as love, hate, despair, and hope co-exist in real life.
The setting of the book is a small village in Kerala, India, and the protagonists are the 7 year old fraternal twins- Estha and Rahel. Their mother, Ammu, divorced, rebellious, has an affair with an untouchable man- a Paravan- named Velutha. Ammu's brother Chacko, an Oxford scholar turned business man who manages his mother's pickle factory in the village, invites his ex-wife Margaret and daughter Sophie from London, to spend Christmas with them. However, Ammu's affair is discovered and while she is locked away in punishment, her twins decide to run away. Sophie joins them. The boat in which the children decide to run away, capsizes, and the twins, experts at navigating the Kerala backwaters, survive, but Sophie does not. She drowns and dies. Velutha is blamed, captured and killed, the twins are separated and each, in their own way, endure a disastrous youth. The pickle factory dissolves, and the family slowly but surely disintegrates. 24 years later, the twins meet again in the village, re-discover each other and find inner peace.
The book, which went on to win the Booker prize, had kicked up quite a storm in India when it was first published in 1997- many considered it politically charged (the Communist party of Kerala has a strong influence on the story), while others were morally upset by the shocking details of unacceptable physical relations- those transcending the barriers between "touchables" and un-touchables", and the incest. The real beauty of this book however, woven deep into the layers of prose that has almost peotic beauty, is in the realization that a myriad of emotions, such as love, hate, despair, and hope co-exist in real life.
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