Page 93 - DENG503_INDIAN_WRITINGS_IN_LITERATURE

Unit 10: Rupa Bajwa: Sari Shop—Detailed Study of the Text

towards others. At the same time, and also at the other end of the class spectrum, he becomes Notes
acquainted with the dire situation of his co-worker and his wife who reside in a tin shack in a poor
section of the city. Ramchand’s experiences quickly led him into a dizzying philosophical journey
with potential serious ramifications for many.
While The Sari Shop contains an engaging and highly entertaining plot, Rupa Bajwa’s prose is
often uneven and lacks a clear direction, especially towards the middle, that can possibly attributed
to this being her debut novel. Hopefully her writing skills will improve and she will continue to
publish thought-provoking books with memorable characters in the near future. Recommended,
especially for those who enjoy Indian literature.
Longlisted for Britain’s Orange Prize for Fiction in 2004, Rupa Bajwa’s The Sari Shop turns the
world of a small shop in Amritsar, India, into a microcosm of the society, allowing the author to
explore big ideas within an intimate environment. Exploring the lives of ordinary shop salesmen,
both at home and at work, as they struggle to make ends meet, she juxtaposes them against some
of their wealthy clients, highlighting dramatically the economic contrasts in their lives and the
differences in their expectations. From her opening description of the raucous awakening of a
small neighborhood, she presents the kinds of homely details which make the setting easy to
visualize, despite the cultural differences. Ramchand, now twenty-six, has been working as an
assistant at the Sevak Sari House since he was fifteen, doing the same job day after day, going to
a small dhaba with some of the other assistants for something to eat at night and sometimes to the
movies. He has little hope of improving his station and, with his parents dead and no family in the
city, little opportunity to meet a marriageable young woman or change his lonely life. Through
flashbacks, the reader learns about Ramchand’s family background and how he came to live alone
in Amritsar. As Bajwa slowly draws the reader into the lives of other characters, the reader
empathizes with them. Kamla, the wife of Chander, another of the shop assistants, is an especially
pathetic case, a young woman who has been victimized by society, her husband, and her husband’s
former employers. Rina Kapoor, daughter of the wealthiest man in Amritsar, however, is also, in
some ways, a victim of her economic situation, as are the women for whom shopping for saris is
a primary activity. Only a few women here seek independent lives, these being women for whom
it is an option because of their economic privilege. Kamla has no such options. When the lives of
Ramchand, Kamla, Rina, and Chander intersect in a shocking climax, lives change forever.
The stunning ending is melodramatic, and Ramchand’s change of character may not be completely
realistic, but the story moves effectively from its quiet character study at the beginning into a
compelling story of characters whose lives overlap, often unwittingly. Sometimes darkly humorous,
the story has considerable charm because Ramchand himself inspires empathy. Intimate and
thoughtful in its depiction of the various social strata which make up the community, the novel is
more understated—less sensational and less political—than some of the more panoramic epics
which have come from India in the past decade.
There are, apparently, an endless supply of narratives portraying the class inequalities in
contemporary Indian life. Few of them have made it into the hands of western English readers. It
is a treat that this one has overcome the narrowness of western ethnocentricity to give us an
insight into the world of modern Indian culture. Rupa Bajwa opens the window for us to see the
world she was born and raised in. While not biographical, it is still first hand. We see a world of
rich, deep culture. But a culture, to the western mindset, of indescribable inequality without
recourse to true justice. We witness a society at the crossroads of modernity and inescapable
prejudice. It is not, at its core, a sad or tragic story. Neither is it a story inciting change to the
established order. But it is an insight into the complex nature of the Indian psyche that must be
unraveled and attempts made to resolve it before this nation can join the club of first world
nations. This is Bajwa’s first novel. Her newness is obvious, even to the unskilled. But that is not

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 87