"The place you live in is like your skin, something you inhabit without being conscious of it.."
This is one of the many elegant lines from the book "In the Country of Deceit" by Shashi Deshpande.
Reading fiction was a kind of lost ability for me. So if I had to get this back to fiction it was possible to do only with Shashi Deshpande's book. That's how I picked this book. I am also bit afraid to read her as the characters and the lines lingers in mind for a very long time.
I am happy this was a light read though it left a lasting impression.
Through Devayani and letters to her, the author opens up many aspects of life like love, marriage, relationships, family, property disputes. Devayani's interaction with Rani and her life reminds the life of movie stars like Arathi or Maadhavi or someone who were very big sometimes but not to be seen now. The characters are so real that I could associate them with somebody..known or heard. That is the beauty of her writings. You know they exist somewhere.
Devayani's quiet existence, sort of contented life really surprised me. why and how is she so happy? or neutral? I could not comprehend.
Reading the book was watching a movie with no loud background score. where we don't want to miss a single scene. The letters were so refreshing...I wish we could open up to someone so concisely and clearly. This is only possible in letters maybe... WhatsApp and messaging have made us so fast that we don't take time to articulate!
Some of the lines from Sindhu's letters will remain in memory for very long!
"My own children have taught me how futile it is to advise anyone.. Nobody wants your advice. I sometimes think how strange it is that we can never pass on the benefits of our experience and memory! No wonder we never learn and make the same mistakes over and over again.."
"Collective experience has value.. Individual experience has none.."
No comments:
Post a Comment