Whenever
I go to a bookshop—be it in a mall or in any of the airports —I look for books
by Indian authors. And I don’t get disappointed. I get the best in
non-fiction—retired bureaucrats, army men and politicians writing their
memoirs, successful businessmen sharing their secrets, management gurus detailing
the best practices, historians sparring over Aryan invasion, Mughal rule or
Asoka. Books that are no inferior to those of international authors in terms of
contents and research.
But
what do I get in fiction?
Shelves
full of school/college romance, extra-marital affairs, sex starved wives, over
hyped feminism. Recently I read 3 best sellers of a leading female author.
Novel after novel, the heroine despises her husband of arranged marriage and
craves to unite with her love of school days. Another thriller by a budding
author starts with a four letter abusive word. The heroine uses the word 78
times throughout the novel!
Not
that these are not worthy of writing. But is it fair to overwhelm the reader
with a skewed version of the modern day woman? Are these what define the woman
of the day? Is she not above the material pleasures of life?
Are
women not of substance like Mythili?
Mythili, who?
Wife
the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mythili is an amazing mix of childish
enthusiasm and sober maturity. Sounds like a paradox? Hear this. When the High
Court acquits her husband Sesha in a hate crime case, she pulls him out of a
lecture in Anna University, gives the security guys the slip and takes him out
on a late-night romantic drive. But when
a charge of sexual harassment surfaces against Sesha, when her daughter calls
Sesha vile and walks out of the house, what does she do? Does it shake her
unassailable faith in her husband? It is her response to this challenge that
sets her apart from the heroines of contemporary novels.
Mythili
may not be the most beautiful woman on Earth, but she has grace, a smiling face
and an amiable nature that put people at ease and encourage them to strike a
conversation. She may not make everyone give her a second look, but anyone who
speaks to her for a few minutes is likely to remember her for a long time.
Does Sesha deserve Mythili? After all, he is a politician.
And what is the impression one gets of a politician from Bollywood movies? A
believer in God who wears a tilak and
sports a thick moustache, a politician is generally illiterate and represents
everything that is evil. How does Sesha fare against this definition? Believer?
Yes. Illiterate? No way. He is a bright chartered accountant. He heads the
investment arm of a multinational bank before landing in politics. Represents
evil? Well, Tamil Nadu witnesses phenomenal development during his tenure; he
becomes extremely popular among the masses. But then, why does he get embroiled
in criminal cases one after another. Are the differences only in external
appearance? In substance, is he just another Bollywood politician? Or is he
innocent?
How
could he be? After all, it is Zarina— the
renowned human rights activist who has spent two decades of her life
championing the cause of the deprived— who levels the charges against him. At 44, she looks amazingly young. She
generally leaves her hair loose. Unless viewed very closely, the dark tan
lipstick would not be visible at all. Her brown eyes, a rare phenomenon among
Tamils, display a steely resolve to bring the bad elements, however popular
they may be, to book.
Will
Sesha survive the charges levelled against him? Is Mythili with him in this
fight?
