Page 111 - DENG503_INDIAN_WRITINGS_IN_LITERATURE

Unit 13: Rupa Bajwa: Sari Shop—Psychological Study

point. Unlike many books about India, this one does not end in utter tragedy. The novel is entirely Notes
modern in its setting and focused in its concerns. No reference is made to Amritsar’s tragic history
under the British Raj, but perhaps the author assumes that the reader cannot be unaware of the
broader context of the novel. If you are unaware, I highly recommend Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet.
Ramchand, a tired shop assistant in Sevak Sari House in Amritsar, spends his days patiently
showing yards of fabric to the women of “status families” and to the giggling girls who dream of
dressing up in silk but can only afford cotton. When Ramchand is sent to show his wares to a
wealthy family preparing for their daughter’s wedding, he is jolted out of the rhythm of his
narrow daily life. His glimpse into a different world gives him an urgent sense of possibility. And
so he attempts to recapture the hope that his childhood had promised, arming himself with two
battered English grammar books, a fresh pair of socks, and a bar of Lifebuoy soap. But soon these
efforts turn his life upside down, bringing him face to face with the cruelties on which his very
existence depends. Reading group guide included.
This was an interesting book, along similar lines to the books by Kaled Housseini, however set in
India and not quite as well written. It revealed a lot about the Indian class system and society and
was quite sad. The only thing I did not like about this book, is that the main character had the
potential to really make something of himself or perhaps to even challenge the status quo, however
after one bad exchange, he gave up and went back to his mundane life, with the suggestion that
he had given up his quest for self-achievement for good, which was pretty disheartening and not
how I thought the story would end. Overall though, a pretty good read.
It was an interesting but ultimately depressing read. The main character, Ramchand, was very
sympathetic. A sensitive young man who had lost his parents when he was 6 years old when there
bus tipped over. He was taken in by a man who called himself uncle, who had a wife and several
children of his own. But Ramchand was not treated like one of their own children. He grew up to
be a solitary sort, having been sent to work in the sari shop when he was 15. His parents had
instilled in him the importance of education and he had a yearning to improve himself.
At the Sari Shop, he is exposed to women from wealthy families and is inspired to study english,
spending his meager earnings on books. One day one of his colleagues does not come to work and
Ramchand is sent to find out why. He goes to the address in a squalid part of the city and finds his
colleagues wife in a drunken stupor. This wife was also an orphan but her experiences had scarred
her badly and having discovered her husband’s liquor, she had become an alcoholic.
Ramchand was moved to try and help her and almost lost his job and his sanity in the process.
This story exposes the corrupting influence of wealth and the corrosive effects of poverty that
continue in parts of India today .. Ramchand is born into a Hindu family of shop owners. His
mother is an observant Hindu who takes him to temple weekly, but he is too young to absorb any
special identity or spirituality that can be called Hindu. As an adult, Ramchand proves to be
especially empathetic toward a Sikh couple who have lost two barely adult sons in
an Indira Ghandi assault on the Golden Temple of Amritsar (Operation Blue Star, 1983), trying to
give solace to them in their own home.

The Sari Shop is about many things, but for the main character, Ramchand, it is
about the development of character itself, particularly about putting one’s morals
into practice under morally impossible circumstances.

Ramchand’s parents enrolled him into English medium school at age 6, but that same year, both
parents were killed in a catastrophic bus accident. Ramchand was sent to a distant uncle in

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