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Indian Writings in Literature

Notes skillfully caricatured. The lives of the lower middle class, their resigned acceptance of poverty,
their escape into filmi world and their aspirations to higher things through English speaking jobs,
brought a lump into my throat due to the streak of desperation that intertwined hope.
I found wonderfully comical moments in the novel as, when Hari, another shop assistant imitates
the portly shop owner or when Ramchand sneaks into the wealthy wedding reception to taste the
forty desserts set out on the table or his surprise when he sees all the women customers and the
sarees from the shop on them. The laugh aloud moments are, when I took in the spiteful chatter
of the ladies on a saree buying spree or observe Ramchand's sensual day dreams revolving around
Sudha, the young wife of his landlord or see him ticking off his shop manager in a perfectly
structured droll English or view his attempts to combat his smelly feet with lemon juice. It is
laughter mixed with pathos, when I glimpsed Rina interviewing Ramchand to exploit his naïve,
comical appeal in her debut novel, while Ramchand imagines himself as suave with Rina.
Is it not utter duplicity of the world where law exists for the rich while the poor timidly accept
injustice? The brutal rape of Kamala, the involvement of the rich Guptas, the apathy of the educated,
articulate and empowered Mrs Sachdeva, the police who pocket the bribe and punish the victim,
the anguish of Ramchand who is just a bystander, left a lasting impression on me. Ramchand's
new found perception, battles to bring some order into the skewered justice system in the society.
His sanity rightfully takes a beating, withdraws into insanity with the intensity of its demoralization
and returns to the present deceitful world to maintain its status quo. I honestly salute Ramchand's
efforts, even though brief, to challenge the social hierarchical system of rich and poor.
Ramchand's attempts to imbue his life with some imagination and beauty by buying English
books and trying to educate himself is very moving. At that particular moment, I recalled the
mania of the Indians for the English language and their use of it as a benchmark to judge a
person's knowledge and place in community. I believe, the novel is very perceptive in giving a
social commentary of the society which reflects the existentialist torment of every human creature.
At the same time, there is a fine balance between reality and expectation, as the incongruities of
life is deftly woven into the story,
I found the novel darkly humorous as it effortlessly drew me into the lives of the characters as
they go about their business of living. I feel, without our volition we can empathize with Kamala
or Ramchand or sneer at the hollowness of Rina or Mrs Sachdeva. It may not possible for us to
break out of our boundaries or change the world around us but sometimes it is necessary to just
try and understand ourselves and our life. The novel definitely does that. Kudos to Bajwa for her
sensitive effort...
Geetha Kariappa is a research scholar with her area of interest being "Feminist Criticism." She is
actively involved in the field of Education and Softskills as a teacher and a trainer. She loves
reading fiction, short stories and books on travel. She has written literary articles for many literary
journals.

9.1 Sari Shop—Concept of Feminism
Rupa Bajwa has woven an intricate tale of the protagonist Ramchand trying to lift himself from
the dregs of his lonely existence, by engaging with the people he meets on a more real level.
Unfortunately he finds the phrase “two sides of the coin” to be true to almost all situations in life,
where hope and desperation co-exist. Ramchand is ‘everyman’-living in a small tenement in one
of the by lanes of Amritsar. The contrasting strands of the life of the privileged and the plodding
existence of the poor are like the weft and weave of the saris that are sold by Ramchand. Somehow
threads interweave to create saris but a few crystals sewn in, or a shot of sari woven through can
make a dramatic difference. It almost seems that Ramchand will lighten his dark lonely days with
his efforts at self improvement. Ramchand for all his feeling of being unschooled, has studied that

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