There is this very important thing about performing magic. Unless you have a deep grasp of your magic and pronounce the runes properly, the magic will not work. What is worse, it might backfire and the invoked spirit might even end up killing you. This very thing seems to have happened to Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in writing this book. Her writing magic, if I could call it so, has backfired and, Goodness, it has done so very badly.
The first book of this author that I had read was ‘The Palace of Illusions’, a book on the famed Mahabharata character of Panchali, closely resembling the renowned work of Irawati Karve, ‘Yuganta’. She had done a pretty decent job there, having already got the blueprint for Panchali’s emotions laid out before her by Vyasa. But this work is something that she can claim to be entirely her own. So, I was expecting to see her real potential excel in here. And, I have been disappointed badly.
First, the plot. The very idea oozes with magic. The spices - yes, the ones that you see in your kitchen every day and which you use for adding taste and health to your food – are all having magical powers. Medical characters we have all known of, but magical? I felt a lot of promise there. Now, the spices have the power to heal and help the people attain their wishes. Tilo is a young girl with the gift of psychic powers. After an ordeal she ends up on an island guarded by an old woman known as the Old One. She takes Tilo into her wings and teaches her, and many other young girls like Tilo who are already there, the power of the spices, the chants and ways to control them, along with the rules to do so. Each girl, once she learns the tricks of the trade, is despatched in an old woman’s body, to various corners of the globe to help the people there with the power of spices. They are bound to some rules – to not touch the people, to not leave the place where they are first put, and to not get personally involved into the lives of those whom they help. If they fail any of these rules, they will be destroyed by fire and recalled (!) to the island.
Our protagonist, Tilo, ends up running a spice shop in Oakland area of USA. There she, the ‘ever-rebellious’ and headstrong person that she is, manages to break all the rules one by one. How long was she there at that spice shop of hers? No clear mention. Why break all the rules now suddenly and at a short notice? Nobody knows. Then she falls in love. With an American. Why? It is because that is what the plot demands. Fine. She risks her powers and even her life to help the people to get what they want. Now, don’t start to think anything superbly spiritual or different. A poor Indian housewife, brought to US by an NRI husband to whom she got married without much of choice or desire, and who is battered and abused by him now. A girl born to NRI couple, brought up with usual traces and talks of freedom, ending up wanting to marry another immigrant from South America, thus hurting her parents. A helpless, pre-teen Sikh boy, who is abused and tormented by his classmates for being different. A Kashmiri young man, who reached US with the hopes of making good in life, now working as a taxi-driver. How Tilo helps these people is on one side. The love of Tilo for her American is on the other side. She starts breaking one rule after another to help these people and in the meanwhile to satisfy her own desires as well. Did the spices punish her for her transgression is what this book is all about.
Now, to what I felt wrong about this book. First, words. The author seems to believe that the only way to convey an emotion is to put it in as many words as possible. As a result, you start feeling bored very soon. So many words to convey even the simplest of things. Brevity is not her forte.
Next, the characters and their emotions don’t somehow seem to tug at your heart as any intense tale is supposed to. Everything seems so artificial, run-of-the-mill and boringly regular. You could have seen such tales in your TV soap operas.
Then, her love for ‘her American’. Why did she fall in love with him? Not a single reason worthy of making us feel happy for them. Her depictions of the hero, her portrayal of his behavior and even his every little acts makes you suspect that it is not love, but ordinary infatuation a young girl caught in an old woman’s body feels for an ‘American’ man oozing with machismo. This guy can do no wrong, he smells great, his dresses are great, he has won a lot in life and, of course, inevitably, he has a bitter past. He falls in love with our girl-in-old-woman’s-body, because somebody told him that ‘she is not what she appears to be’. He even kisses her passionately once, you see!
Finally, a spoiler. If you are eager to know whether the spices punish her, sorry, they don’t. They ravage most of the Oakland area through earthquake and fire, kill innocent people and destroy their property, but let go of our protagonist with just a little injury to her forehead, because you know what? She accepted her punishment in her heart. Dafuq is the word that came to my mind here.
A lot of sentimental stupidity, run-of-the-mill characterization, stereotyped depiction of US-based Indians, a senseless ending all mar such an innovative storyline. Good enough only for starry-eyed teenagers that devour adult novels in a hurry, or housewives that eat TV-serials for breakfast-lunch-and-supper, or for those movie-makers who are looking for such NRI tales with raunchy love-making scenes to create a film out of.
A dumb ‘sop’ opera, for those with a lot of time to waste and immense patience to go with it.
The first book of this author that I had read was ‘The Palace of Illusions’, a book on the famed Mahabharata character of Panchali, closely resembling the renowned work of Irawati Karve, ‘Yuganta’. She had done a pretty decent job there, having already got the blueprint for Panchali’s emotions laid out before her by Vyasa. But this work is something that she can claim to be entirely her own. So, I was expecting to see her real potential excel in here. And, I have been disappointed badly.
First, the plot. The very idea oozes with magic. The spices - yes, the ones that you see in your kitchen every day and which you use for adding taste and health to your food – are all having magical powers. Medical characters we have all known of, but magical? I felt a lot of promise there. Now, the spices have the power to heal and help the people attain their wishes. Tilo is a young girl with the gift of psychic powers. After an ordeal she ends up on an island guarded by an old woman known as the Old One. She takes Tilo into her wings and teaches her, and many other young girls like Tilo who are already there, the power of the spices, the chants and ways to control them, along with the rules to do so. Each girl, once she learns the tricks of the trade, is despatched in an old woman’s body, to various corners of the globe to help the people there with the power of spices. They are bound to some rules – to not touch the people, to not leave the place where they are first put, and to not get personally involved into the lives of those whom they help. If they fail any of these rules, they will be destroyed by fire and recalled (!) to the island.
Our protagonist, Tilo, ends up running a spice shop in Oakland area of USA. There she, the ‘ever-rebellious’ and headstrong person that she is, manages to break all the rules one by one. How long was she there at that spice shop of hers? No clear mention. Why break all the rules now suddenly and at a short notice? Nobody knows. Then she falls in love. With an American. Why? It is because that is what the plot demands. Fine. She risks her powers and even her life to help the people to get what they want. Now, don’t start to think anything superbly spiritual or different. A poor Indian housewife, brought to US by an NRI husband to whom she got married without much of choice or desire, and who is battered and abused by him now. A girl born to NRI couple, brought up with usual traces and talks of freedom, ending up wanting to marry another immigrant from South America, thus hurting her parents. A helpless, pre-teen Sikh boy, who is abused and tormented by his classmates for being different. A Kashmiri young man, who reached US with the hopes of making good in life, now working as a taxi-driver. How Tilo helps these people is on one side. The love of Tilo for her American is on the other side. She starts breaking one rule after another to help these people and in the meanwhile to satisfy her own desires as well. Did the spices punish her for her transgression is what this book is all about.
Now, to what I felt wrong about this book. First, words. The author seems to believe that the only way to convey an emotion is to put it in as many words as possible. As a result, you start feeling bored very soon. So many words to convey even the simplest of things. Brevity is not her forte.
Next, the characters and their emotions don’t somehow seem to tug at your heart as any intense tale is supposed to. Everything seems so artificial, run-of-the-mill and boringly regular. You could have seen such tales in your TV soap operas.
Then, her love for ‘her American’. Why did she fall in love with him? Not a single reason worthy of making us feel happy for them. Her depictions of the hero, her portrayal of his behavior and even his every little acts makes you suspect that it is not love, but ordinary infatuation a young girl caught in an old woman’s body feels for an ‘American’ man oozing with machismo. This guy can do no wrong, he smells great, his dresses are great, he has won a lot in life and, of course, inevitably, he has a bitter past. He falls in love with our girl-in-old-woman’s-body, because somebody told him that ‘she is not what she appears to be’. He even kisses her passionately once, you see!
Finally, a spoiler. If you are eager to know whether the spices punish her, sorry, they don’t. They ravage most of the Oakland area through earthquake and fire, kill innocent people and destroy their property, but let go of our protagonist with just a little injury to her forehead, because you know what? She accepted her punishment in her heart. Dafuq is the word that came to my mind here.
A lot of sentimental stupidity, run-of-the-mill characterization, stereotyped depiction of US-based Indians, a senseless ending all mar such an innovative storyline. Good enough only for starry-eyed teenagers that devour adult novels in a hurry, or housewives that eat TV-serials for breakfast-lunch-and-supper, or for those movie-makers who are looking for such NRI tales with raunchy love-making scenes to create a film out of.
A dumb ‘sop’ opera, for those with a lot of time to waste and immense patience to go with it.
That's how I felt about it!! Also wondered if the authoress had seen the film "Woman on Top" because the plots are practically twins.
ReplyDeleteOf course, my friend. The plots are very similar, but this book got published in 1997, whereas the movie was released in 2000. So, we can spare the author on that count. :-)
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