In Other Words - Jhumpa Lahiri

At first, the words just seemed friendly. Soon I started travelling with them to every nook and corner of the writer’s thoughts and before I knew, I tumbled down with them unto this unexpected journey for freedom.

A renowned writer decides to learn a new language. She has won the Pulitzer Prize for her work written in English and now she has decided to abandon English for Italian. She is learning Italian from the scratch. She is crazy. She has left her home in the USA and shifted to Italy so that she could be amidst the language she is trying to learn. She has stopped reading English books. She reads only Italian and she writes only in Italian. This is non-fiction. This is “In Other Words” where Jhumpa Lahiri tells us about her extra ordinary journey into a new language. In her quest for Italian, the writer is searching for a new dimension of herself. She is seeking to be free from the grammars and memories of her earlier language. She has left behind her earlier language. She has left behind her earlier baggage. In this journey, she is born a new writer, with new merits and new demerits. She is free from her past!

Rabindranath Tagore’s heroines were always very free spirited. Jhumpa Lahiri seemed like a creation of Tagore; but a Tagore of modern times, of an evolved era where freedom is not at all about a dowry or a purdah system but only about the freedom of mind. Where do I stand here? Like Tagore’s heroines, I belong to both the worlds. I am trapped between both the worlds. Society knows I have the choice but they will keep hoping that I go by their choice and not mine. I will keep being polite and they will keep nudging at me till my patience is so broken that I can no longer be polite. Then they will shrug their shoulders but “let” me have my way, blaming the “time” for my follies. They will keep on loving and blessing me as usual. It will take them a long time to notice that I have stopped respecting them. My freedom is a rose, and roses have their thorns.

Jhumpa Lahiri tells us a short story she had written (in Italian) about a sweater. Suddenly a girl could no longer recognize her own sweater. She had been wearing it for a long time but today, it did not feel like her own. Something must have changed.

How much do we notice the changes that happen to us? I am not talking about the new freckle on your face. I have this very cool uncle whom I have known as a kid. I did not meet him for a long time and then, when I met him again, he did not seem that cool. But my parents found him the same, he had not changed. I had changed! Everyone changes. Some evolve.

Jhumpa Lahiri could feel the change in her; the change that whatever may be the reason, English as a language no longer did much to her. She wanted more, she wanted Italian. Like all free spirited women, she followed her pursuit and arrived in Italy. She did not shoo away her wanting as a light hearted impossible whim. She knew that she had the choice and the freedom to follow her whim for the Italian language into a reality.

How many such whims have I shooed away? Innumerable, if not more. I still believe I did the right thing most of the times. But now I also know that with each such shooing away, I have also shooed away one more opportunity to explore myself further, to probe myself deeper. Sometimes it is comfortable to get lazy but sometimes, it is important to go out of one’s comfort zone and test different waters. That’s how we grow, that’s how we become free. And this is a never ending journey.

As Jhumpa Lahiri says it IN OTHER WORDS: “In the face of everything that seems to me unattainable, I marvel. If everything were possible, what would be the meaning, the point of life?”

Read in March, 2016

After Reading "Before We Visit the Goddess"

Before We Visit the Goddess is about Sabitri, Bella and Tara – three generations of women; a grandmother, a daughter and a granddaughter.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters have integrity – they never falter from their essence. The book does not follow any chronological order; Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni makes us travel to and fro through decades and she does it so skilfully that instead of being cumbersome, it’s actually a pleasure to shuttle through time. The time essays each protagonist journey through life to find salvation.

What is impressive in this novel is the poetic quality of the prose. The poetry in the prose is subtle with phrases like “her thoughts whirling like a flock of startled birds”. They build up images or thoughts in your mind. Better so because the author goes deep into the minds of the protagonists. Bella has an imaginary friend, a magician. The whole episode has such a surreal quality to it that you cannot but marvel with wonder at the art of fine story telling that the author possesses.

I found many facets to the novel. Ofcourse, the underlying theme throughout is the mother daughter relationship. The mothers are not perfect here – this novel is not a fairytale. Nor are the daughters perfect.  “I didn’t know then that mothers can’t necessarily save their children, no matter how much they want to.” – Bella knows this only after she helplessly has to see her own daughter go downhill. Like all daughters, Bella turns to Sabitri, her mother for help. “I guess that’s when people call their mothers – when their world is falling apart.”

But this novel is about other relationships too. Mostly, its about life. Vipin Babu’s love is respected but never reciprocated. Forever he remains a faithful friend. Vishu loves being the elder brother to Sanjay and his wife, Bella. But Bella finds this an invasion. The interplay that follows changes everyone’s lives forever. Estranged from parents, Tara finds solace in strangers; strangers who could have almost become family.

Infact, the novel has so many underlying themes that I feel much have been left unexplored. I wish the author could have delved a bit deeper, thrown some more light into each character. Also, because I had so much expectation from this book, as I read the last page, I was left wishing for more. Unlike Chitra Banerjee Devakaruni’s other books, I found this one less thought provoking. But this said, I am happy I read this book. The story has a strong pull – it is believable and intriguing at the same time.

To my friends, I recommend this book. But I would also like to tell them that if you expect this book to fare with you as well as the author’s most popular book till now – The Palace of Illusions, you might be slightly, if not much, disappointed. Mostly because, this novel ended too soon – it left me feeling there is more to know.