Review: Sobering
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2013
Manasa left Calcutta alone without the support of family or friends. Her dreams were unsettling. She lived in fear of reproach, anger causing decisive impotence, her future tossed by storms. She had refused to cower before her father's domination. He had shouted, "You're nothing. You're useless. There should be a caste for women lower than Harijans. Sari Caste!" He spat on her. He was angry because he had only three daughters and no sons. And Manasa was skillful rather than obedient.All her dreams and hopes were dashed after Patel asked for Manasa in marriage. Her father refused, deciding that Jamal, her older sister, should become Patap's wife. This had been done spitefully. Life seemed full of tricks.Manasa felt Patap's child stirring within her belly. She and her babe would both be considered outcasts. After her daughter, Lipika was born, Manasa left Calcutta. The clatter and clamor were a shock to her senses. She had fallen from poverty, down to destitution. Desperation presented a solution by declaring that she was a widow. To feed herself and her babe, Manasa was forced into prostitution. Because she could not take and hold the bitter pills, she was sterilized to prevent pregnancies. Pramath, her boss, gave her the first alcohol. Soon her head floated somewhere above her wayward body. One did not have to physically die before a new karma began. Surely it was enough to die in spirit.The brothel became Manasa' s life. She clung to courage despite being abused daily. Tragedy and heartbreak were accepted, and dealt with, courageously. Later, she secretly weds Dinesh. They flee to Darjeeling. She wanted to be called Patricia.Later, a betrayal involving Dinesh and Jamal occurs. True words cut Manasa with good and bad understanding knives. A tidal wave of emotion sweeps them toward chaos.There were never enough answers, only a continuing struggle. This is a heart wrenching very realistic novel. Her life could be compared to that of the violin spider that emits a high pitched tone as it spins out its web.