Fairy tales have taught us in childhood that getting married to the person you love meant a happily ever after. Spenser wrote his Amoretti sonnets in this light and more or less similar were Austen's concerns in her novels. It was implicit that everything would naturally fall in place. Truth is, the real game begins thereafter. How things go about when people play that game is what Shunali Khullar Shroff's maiden fiction "Love in the time of Affluenza" is about. It explores love, relationships and changing nature of marriage through the eyes of the protagonist, Natasha Singh.
The central issue if the novel is extra marital affairs. The concept is quite in trend in this time in metropolitans. The author examines the question of it being wrong or right. When discovered as an accomplice, our innocent narrator appears like a Christ figure punished by just everyone. That seemed far too stretched. Her husband's punishing her so much seemed irrational and not completely called for. Whether she is able to reconcile her differences with Nakul or not remains unsaid.
To a certain extent, the author tries to find out the possible reasons also but not in much depth. Why exactly Trisha and Nakul in the novel become estranged is not told. The uncertainty of the future of their twins remains unanswered. It is clear that even if one marries for love, relationships can still be complicated. The author harps on "the connection" necessary for a happily ever after. But seeing that as the plot progresses, it seems too ideal and unrealistic.
In between all this, the author successfully creates 3 vivacious women characters with completely different personalities. They are matched up with their equally lively male counterparts. One is a homemaker who left her career to raise her children (Natasha), another is the unmarried, career-oriented woman, free-spirited woman (Nafisa), and the third who brings in the moral question (Trisha).
The narrator's husband did not give her time and that clearly is one reason the author gives for these out of wedlock activities.
The narrator throws and also is a part of the grand page 3 type parties due to the aristocratic and royal background of her husband. Famous Bollywood celebrities and also British royalty appear in these parties. Sometimes the description is elaborate enough to actually see the page 3 come to life.
The language is simple with some touches of wit and sarcasm to make the reader smile. It has lines in hindi here and there to make it sound more Indian than it is. The plot is linear without any digressions or flashbacks and the narrator keeps updating the reader herself. This makes the novel an easy read for an average reader.
Other issues include the acknowledgment if the importance of the role of a homemaker, the issues with in-laws (predicted in many daily soaps), and most importantly, parenting. How the behavior of parents affects and how the environment at home is important in the upbringing of children remains in the background.
Unbiased Review .
ReplyDelete