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    Urmila
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    Urmila
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    Urmila
    Ebook257 pages3 hours

    Urmila

    By Pervin Saket

    5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Recapturing the mythical journey of love and longing in contemporary India

    Inspired by the story of Lakshman’s wife from Ramayana, Urmila traces a tale of rejection and a woman’s passionate search for love, rekindling questions of devotion and desire.

    The talented and passionate Urmila Karmarkar has recently married into a wealthy, politically connected family in suburban Mumbai. When Urmila’s brother-in-law is compelled to move to Dubai, her husband leaves her behind and chooses to follow him instead. Fuelled by this rejection, Urmila seeks solace in her art as she battles to keep her dreams of love and motherhood alive, waiting for her husband to return.

    Pervin Saket was shortlisted for the Random House India Writers’ Bloc award in 2013. Her fiction has appeared in Breaking the Bow: Speculative Fiction inspired by the Ramayana, The Asian Writer Collection, Earthen Lamp Journal and other works. Her collection of poetry, A Tinge of Turmeric, was published in 2008.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJaico Publishing House
    Release dateJul 1, 2016
    ISBN9788184956665
    Unavailable
    Urmila

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    • 5/5
      Urmila, brought up in a traditional family, learns to love her husband "in advance", etching his memories in brush strokes in her mind, but unable to recall his face when she really needs it. Her marriage is arranged to Shree, the second son of an influential business family. By a twist of circumstances, Shree's elder brother marries Urmila's "sister" Vanita the same day that Urmila's wedding was to take place. Shree is devoted to his brother Purushottam, much like Ramayan's Lakshman, and will think of nothing or no one except Puru and Vanita. He leaves Urmila with his parents and follows Puru and Vanita to Dubai. Urmi seeks solace in art. The story, narrated by Urmila, tells the story of how she copes with her husband's desertion and how she builds her life from there.

      "Urmila" narrates the story of a wife who rises above herself to become an individual. Art liberates her. The narrative flits through the past and present until you're lost in time. Time, unrelenting time, is as much a character in this book as the protagonist Urmila, her parents, Vanitha, and the family she married into. The narrative is full of pathos and chokes us up with its poetic descriptions. I was overwhelmed. I cried in parts and choked up in others, even when the situation was not aligned with my principles.

      The characterisation is superb - the way Urmi's parents and parents-in-law grow with her, how the situations change subtly from traditional to modern, how Urmila moves from being melancholic about the absence of a husband to discovering herself in fits and starts - it is a subtle but touching advancement, it creeps up on you slowly and surprises you. The language is poignant, and never feels repetitive despite much of the book being the pathos of an abandoned wife. The narrative can get unclear because of the changing timeline, but I think it adds to the beauty of the book. "Urmila" does not invoke The Ramayana on every page, but the myth is hidden in every passage. This is how I like my mythology - with subtle references, rather than overt retelling.

      There are a few inconsistencies - such as, the tale begins with protests against one of Urmi's artworks that depict (possibly) Ram-Sita-Lakshman. For almost half of the book, you can't decide whether Urmi likes Vani or not because she criticises her as much as she claims of adoring her.

      Nevertheless, this is a book I'll remember for long. Here are some lovely sentences from the book:

      About Dhanushkodi: "The spot where history, legend and mythology churned together, where one half of a couple embarked on a journey to find a beloved in a foreign land. Where a bridge once possibly stood, marking a union, however brief, a hope, however lost, and a love, however doomed."

      "The moment a desire dies is a sharp one. As pointed as the splutter of a mustard seed, as shrill as a whine, as heavy as a star on a clear night. I had delayed that moment for as long as I could, looking away when it threatened to burst. Its fear lurked around my dupattas and beneath my slippers, covered but heady."

      "I wished for that moment to stretch on, the one moment when we stood without pretences, in full sight of the baggage we carried – the instant when we had stripped ourselves and gazed at the sorrowful nakedness of our minds. We were victims, both, and inflicted stings on each other to forget our own attachments."

      "My husband not only hated scenes, he hated every little fragment that went into them – dialogue, expressions, people, repartee, issues, groups, banter, questions."

      "It is ironical that I cannot bear to see the face that I sought for so many years. Perhaps what we covet and what we despise are two sides of the same coin, and I have flipped my fate."