He tuned his thoughts to electronic
Circuitry. This soothed his mind.
He left irregular (moronic)
Sentimentality behind.
He thought of or-gates and of and-gates,
Of ROMS, of nor-gates, and of-nand-gates,
Of nanoseconds, megabytes,
And bits and nibbles ... but as flights
Of silhouetted birds move cawing
Across the pine-serrated sky,
Dragged from his cove, not knowing why,
He feels an urgent riptide drawing
Him far out, where, caught in kelp
Of loneliness, he cries for help.
- Vikram Seth, The Golden Gate
Isn't this poem like the perfect verse for an engineer? Although what its alluding to is kinda depressing but it makes me happier that the profession I'm half-heartedly pursuing doesn't exactly make for a happy living. Not unless I love it of course. Which I'm not really feeling right now due to the natural disdain I feel at the fields and waves exam that managed to - like I predicted - pummel on my confidence like an elephants paw stumps on an ant.
It took me a whooping total of 6 years to complete reading this book - and I'm trying to imagine how the hell he wrote it for so long without taking some Valium. Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy is one hell of a novel. The content isn't that amazing as much as it is riddling and even though he tries vigorously to give his characters three dimensions, the sheer volume of detail he associates with each of them just plays with my head - and I usually don't have much trouble trying to connect with characters no matter how two-dimensional or deep they are.
I applaud him for his creativity for capturing the post-Independence atmosphere of the new India. Unfortunately for Vikram Seth, this book and its recognition will probably only be limited to its sheer length and perhaps its unique poetic and rather descriptive table of contents. I know that's what initially piqued my interest in the book, apart from the fact that I couldn't pick it up and or flip properly through its pages merely because it was so big.
Alright, I did once in a while fall in love with Kabir Khan like Lata did, cringe when her pedophilic and lusty maternal uncle approached her and even felt my heart twinge a little when Amit indirectly - or rather directly for his poetic character - confessed to loving her and enjoying her company, and even went as far to as feel slightly revolted at Harish for his less than rogue and rough practicality. But like any girl feverently reading the love story she was promised, my attention span only lived when Lata did, died when politics came into it. I'm sure the abolishment of zamindari system was an important and even a pivotal movement at the crux of independence but it just wasn't my boat. At least not the way he wrote it.
And like every book that is far too long, the knots are tied up all too quickly. It took him 1000 pages to come to a climax and only 400 to reach a conclusion. Bummer.
Sure, it was a good read, well worth the time. I now know more about the Indian consulate and senate system more than I know about my own nation's. I am not even sure Bangladesh even has a senate system that isn't rigged with corruption and stone hearted officials who are solely interested in lining their own pockets. For God's sake I know the Indian national anthem by heart. I'm guilty of not knowing more than two lines of Amar Shonar Bangla. My father used to be pretty amused at the fact until I pointed that it was because of him enrolling me in an Indian School that things turned out this way. Historically speaking Bengal was and still is an integral part of India. Anyway, you can't measure patriotism by knowledge of your own national anthem. There are other crucial characteristics that defines a patriot. Like food, clothes, beliefs..yeah I could go on and on.
Back to Vikram Seth. I've yet to read his other works but now I have finally finished this monster of a book, I'm pretty inclined to read Two Lives focusing a bit on the Holocaust which seems pretty interesting. Oh yes! And also Golden Gate which apparently tells the tale of young professionals residing in San Francisco. But before my reading list extends from here to the Great Wall of China, I should really get going on those holds that I have with the public library. Now, those people, they haven't seen me in a while. I believe it's time I owe them a visit.
