Looking for love in foreign land
Tulip Chowdhury feels the emotions in a woman's tale
The Vine of Desire
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Anchor Books
There may be few books that can hold up the tapestry of human bondage so intricately as The Vine of Desire. Desire and loneliness, love and faithfulness interplay through the tale of three Indian immigrants caught in the dilemma of living under the same roof in America. The story is totally engrossing and leaves the reader breathless with the minute details caught in the emotional upheavals of life. Shudha, a young Indian woman, comes to visit her cousin Anju in New York. Shudha is newly divorced and still under the mental agony such family breakups can cause. She left her husband when her he and her mother-n-law wanted her to have an abortion because the baby she was carrying was a female foetus. To escape from them Shudha goes back to her parents. Now she is the mother of the baby girl, Dayita, who is with her in the US. Shudha and Anju have been very close friends ever since they were little girls. Anju had a miscarriage and is very upset and so Shudha has agreed to come to help her out with the trauma.
Shudha falls into the pattern of American life. She tries to keep up with her Indian traditions while keeping track of the holy days on the calendar marked by her mother. Anju is under a depression and cannot keep track of her daily life. Shudha is there supporting her and guiding her. Shudha has the welfare of her cousin at heart. However, she is aware of the long stares from Anju's husband Sunil. Shudha becomes more aware that she is blessed with beauty. The beautiful cheekbones highlight the beautiful dark eyes. The eyes are fringed with long lashes that have an alluring beauty of their own. The mouth is wide and generous and when she smiles the world seems to open up with it. Her tall figure is like a carved figure of Venus. Shudha avoids being alone with Sunil as she does not trust him. And the strangest thing is that she does not trust herself either. There seems to be a chemistry working between them and Shudha is very much afraid of it.
Shudha finds herself in a tug of war. There is Ashok, her childhood sweetheart in Calcutta who is constantly urging her to return to him. And here is a new life in America that she wants to explore. Shudha has fled from an unhappy marriage and has no intention of becoming Sunil's lover. Her conscience is clear despite her own hidden fears and mistrust of her own emotions. She has no intention of cheating over Anju either. But there is a guilty feeling in Shudha for that sleeping desire which Sunil arouses in her when he plants a kiss on her cheekbone while she is sleeping. A part of her wants more of him. And here comes into Shudha's life Lalit, the great womanizer who with his flirting ways is like a breath of fresh air for Shudha. Lalit starts taking her out. To Lalit, Shudha is the woman he has been waiting for all his life. Every time Shudha goes out with Lalit she has to listen to sarcastic remarks from Sunil. It becomes evident that Sunil is very much determined to have his way with her. One day, with Dayita sleeping soundly, Shudha and Sunil find themselves alone and the inevitable, the sin that Shudha had not wanted to commit, is committed.
Shudha realizes that after that fateful day she cannot face Anju. Taking help from Lupe, a friend she has found through her numerous rounds in the nearby park, she takes up a job. The job is with an Indian family, taking care of an elderly man. She and Dayita move into the new house before Anju is back home. She has a nice room and the freedom to take her own food. It takes time for Shudha to settle into her new life. She had heard that life in America was a challenge and she feels determined to face that challenge. However, she keeps in touch with Lalit. She likes his wit and sense of humour. From Lalit she gets the devastating news that Anju and Sunil are divorced. She cannot forgive herself for coming between her best friend and her husband. Meanwhile, Ashok turns up in America to take Shudha back to India. Lalit too has finally found the love of his heart in Shudha. Shudha is perplexed, a part of her wants to settle down in the US and a part of her wants to get back to the old familiar life in India. She still is not ready to get married, though. She is caught in an emotional crisscrossing that leaves her gasping for air. But she has to take a decision; she cannot go on living in her employer's house with her daughter. A decision is taken but not before Shudha goes through emotional upheavals that show how different life can be in America for women like her.
Shudha's life in America is a tale among the stories of hundreds of other lives of immigrants. Quite a number of Indian writers are coming up with poignant tales about immigrants in America. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a master storyteller who fills her narrative with the emotions and intricate details of human life that seem to breathe with the reader. The writer catches the life of immigrants between past and present, between home and abroad, tradition and fresh experience. An engrossing tale of human lives caught in the dilemma of migrating to a new land!
Tulip Chowdhury writes fiction and is a critic and teacher.
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