How this new book explores migration through the eyes of a family

Bani Basu and Debali Mukerjea-Leonard

Bani Basu's book, The Continents Between (Penguin Random House India), revolves around the story of Sudeep, Kamalika, and their children Swadesh and Aratrika. When Swadesh and Aratrika are still young, Sudeep and Kamalika decide to leave Calcutta (today's Kolkata) and settle in New York. A few years later, when it becomes difficult for Sudeep to earn a promotion at the university because of his race, they return to Calcutta. Basu narrates how the quartet deal with being thrown into a new environment all over again, having to navigate interactions with extended family and new friendships.

The narrative is energised by its multiple narrators as each carries the story forward without creating dissonance. The multi-vocal narrative from the point of view of the four characters strengthens their development through the story and gives the reader an understanding of how migration isn't a singular experience. Moving across continents implies moving across cultures alien to each other. It becomes especially strange for Aratrika and Sudeep, to find a balance between assimilation and resistance. What don't work as well are the sudden switches in the middle of a few chapters into the third person voice from the first person. This choice feels intrusive to the otherwise well-plotted story.

As conversations of property arise, Basu's take on India in the 1980s and women's position at the time emerges too. In addition to the progressive female protagonists like Aratrika and Kamalika, she introduces ideas of modernity through the radical Swadesh. He is shown, from the beginning, to resist the dominance of white culture in the US, and later questions why the forefathers in India didn't fight for the liberation of women the way they fought for the country. The book, originally written in Bangla in 1981, translated by Debali Mookerjea-Leonard this year, stands the test of time in its themes of identity, love, and politics. With the opening up of digital spaces, cultures expand but also collide. The book, while typical of a certain period, urges the readers to think about how migration, in its evolving forms, shapes our lives today.

Cost: Rs 399
Available Leading bookstores and e-store

Kiran Desai. Pics Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons (right) Jhumpa Lahiri

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