Dr. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Oleander Girl
The story is about a teenage girl in love, from a very traditional Bengali Hindu family.
Korobi is from a traditional well versed and well cultured Bengali family, who was taken care by her grandparents as her parents were not alive. There is a mystery surrounding the death of her parents but, Korobi feels the presence of her mother many times.
Korobi is chosen to be Rajat's mate and the elders celebrate their engagement with great show and pomp, specially so as Rajat was followed by his ex wherever he went...
Rajat's family is invested in the the business of fine arts, where they sell classical art works, from classical to modern paintings.
The cultural background of their family is very modern and in a way the story goes until now, it is like a marriage proposal with traditional and modern cultures.
This young girly story all of a sudden leaps into the most interesting, and thrilling story, that is as much a joy to read as it is totally absorbing.
Going deeper into the heart of the Oleander Girl, it occurs that the only other narrative of this kind, and story is written by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, in his beautiful story telling in Gora. Dr. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni also hails from Bengal, where the cultural heritage is as great as India the great, India the Ancient to India the modern spreading the tender and fresh fragrance of her Oleander Girl!
However, unlike Gora, the story goes beyond that point and probes into the future, to realize her roots. It is as much a description of incidents that affected human lives since 9/11 as it is a narrative of the lives of individuals woven into this novel.
The search for her roots draws into several incidents. Some of them very unpleasant.
It takes an unexpected turn, teasing the readers and the stereotypical thinking and addresses the issue of interracial relations at a different parameter, from those of the offspring of such relations and the cultural distance they are born into or raised.
However, the question remains with the reader, that the society is still not ready to accept the different perspectives in assimilating things that reckon change in society. Why was the daughter not given away by the person who should have, knowing their duties and responsibilities..does that mean the society is still not ready for the real change the writer intended to bring in, and they had to compromise their observation and imagination, to meet the expectation of the society, and ethnicities, norms, mores and folklore?
The communal problems in Calcutta, high end Bengali cuisine, haute couture have been knitted very well by the author.
I think those who read it would want to keep going back to the book, until they get the story under their skin and still would want to indulge in reading for the sake of getting the essence into their being..
The book, Oleander Girl, written by Dr. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Professor of Creative Writing, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA, is a Simon and Schuster Publication and is released globally. In India it is published by Penguin-India Publishers, I recommend you to go for the ebook version if your eyesight needs extra care, as one can enjoy reading to the font size that can be customized. It can be ordered via Amazon or from the publishers' site.
Other books that were penned by the author include, Mistress of Spices, Sisters, Palace of Illusions, etc. which we can address one after the other..
