I am cross-posting an essay I wrote about my favorite novel: A Suitable Boy.  This essay was originally published in 2012Â
There are some works of literature that are like comfort foodâready for one to dip into whenever one is in need of a pick-me-up. For me, Vikram Sethâs 1993 magnum opus, A Suitable Boy, is one such work. The charactersâranging from the anxious and melodramatic Mrs. Rupa Mehra to the crazy Chatterjee family to the beautiful Muslim courtesan Saaeda Bai Firozabadiâ are like old friends whom one has missed after a long absence. Every time I read the novel (and I have read it several times) I find new things to delight and ponder.
The novel begins with what in my opinion is one of the best openings in modern literature, one that immediately alludes to Jane Austen. Just as Pride and Prejudice begins with the narrator stating âIt is a truth universally acknowledged ,that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wifeâ, A Suitable Boy opens with the sentence: ” âYou too will marry a boy I choose,â said Mrs. Rupa Mehra firmly to her younger daughter.â With this sentence, Seth immediately lets the reader know what the book will be about: Mrs. Rupa Mehraâs search to find a suitable match for her daughter Lata. The novel opens at the wedding of Lataâs elder sister Savita. It will conclude with another wedding, that of Lata herself. Continue reading Reflections: Vikram Seth’s ‘A Suitable Boy’- An Epic Portrait of 1950s India
As a student of ethnomusicology trained in Hindustani classical music, I was intrigued by Fawzia Afzal-Khanâs latest book Siren Song: Understanding Pakistan Through Its Women Singers. Afzal-Khan â a professor of English and Gender Studies in the United States as well as a vocalist trained in the Hindustani tradition â uses case studies of selected female singers to explore some of the contradictions of Pakistani society. On the one hand, Pakistan is a conservative Muslim-majority state where many people believe that the performing arts in general are contrary to religious injunctions and that women singers are not ârespectableâ women. Yet, divas such as âMadamâ Noor Jehan (1926-2000) are widely celebrated and have legions of fans. Afzal-Khan thus wanted to provide a more nuanced depiction of Pakistani society at a time when many people in the West have a very stereotypical image of Muslims and particularly of Muslim women, whom they believe lack all personal agency and are completely covered by the burqa. Clearly, the truth is not that simple. In this book, Afzal-Khan explores the ways in which great singers like Malka Pukhraj (1912-2004), Roshan Ara Begum (1917-1982), and Noor Jehan employed their personal agency within the constraints of a conservative Islamic society to fulfill their ambitions to become performing artists. 