Indian American Shanthi Sekaran's first novel The Prayer Rooms shows how love develops in a not-so perfect marriage between two strangers brought together by circumstances
Indian American Shanthi Sekaran's first novel The Prayer Rooms shows how love develops in a not-so perfect marriage between two strangers brought together by circumstances
With the market flooded with books written by Indians, who have spent most of their lives abroad, it is not difficult to recognise when a new one hits the stands. In that respect, Shanthi Sekaran's first novel The Prayer Room is no different. Characterised by an effort to bring out differences yet bridging the cultural gaps is a common pattern that most Indian American authors nowadays follow, Sekaran is no exception. However, she scores when it comes to narrating a story that involves the deepest of emotions portrayed in a simple but poignant manner. 
The story begins in 1974, with a young British PhD student George Armitage sitting in a plane uncertainly beside his new Indian bride Viji hailing from a traditional family. The marriage that happened suddenly has a bumpy start but with years both try to overcome their differences. The outline may not sound different but Sekaran's subtle and sensitive treatment of their relationship brings out a deeper meaning of love that slowly breaks boundaries of cultural differences and the conventional concept of fidelity.
However, Sekaran's book has some loose ends in terms of characterisation. Sekaran should be complimented for carefully etching a sensitive portrayal of Viji.u00a0 Her conversations with her dead relatives in a traditional self-made prayer room bring out interesting layers of her character. But sadly somewhere in the course of the story Sekaran loses the flow thus making the characters look half-hearted. Reading The Prayer Room may make you feel like a sumptuous Indian meal without a dessert.
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In an email interview with The Guide, Shanthi Sekaran, who has spent most of her growing up years in California and now teaches at San Francisco told The Guide how she wrote her first novel.
How and why did The Prayer Room happen?
I wanted to write an expansive story of how a family came into being, and was also intrigued by the idea of a prayer room, the history it contains, and the space it occupies within a person's selfhood. I drew inspiration from the films of Wes Anderson, his pacing and humour, the deliberation with which he constructs his images. In the end, the book became as much a story of a house as a family.
Why did you choose The Prayer Rom to be Viji's ultimate place of comfort?
The walls of this room provide the physical, pictorial essence of her past. Since Viji was plucked out of her past and thrust into a marriage and a life that she hadn't necessarily wanted, the prayer room became a place where she could go back to the life she'd had before everything changed. It was also, very importantly, the one room that her father-in-law stayed out of.
How would you describe the book?
Books are like people. Mine is funny, flawed, sincere. It isn't perfect, but it's real, and I ask that readers try to understand it in their own way.
Was the cross country marriage in the 70s a conscious choice to suit the narrative?
I wanted both Viji and George to be immigrants, and alienated in a sense. I didn't want this book to be another Jhumpa Lahiri sad-Indian-in-a-white-country tale. I wanted to show that alienation, the search for identity and companionship, can transcend national and racial lines.
Who is your favourite character and why?
I had the most fun writing George. Viji stressed me out a little, perhaps because I identified with her the most. With George, I could have fun with his flaws, I could play on his insecurities and still sympathise with him.
How much of Shanthi or your personal experiences are there in the story and the characters?
I grew up in Sacramento in the 80s, and draw a lot from personal experience of that setting. I identify with every character, and see elements of Stan in my own grandfather, who was a gutsy immigrant, moved to America late in life and grabbed the experience by the horns. There's a little of me in every character.
You present a different perspective of love and fidelity. How would you describe it?
I would describe it as realistic. George and Viji are imperfect individuals; they don't always know what they want, and they don't always want what 's right for them. They make mistakes, but their mistakes don't have to ruin their lives. I guess a big part of love and fidelity is realising that you can't pick and choose the circumstances of your life. Sometimes you just have to let go of what-ifs and live fully in your present.
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How and why would it appeal to contemporary readers?
This isn't a neat and tidy love story. It's realistic, and readers these days identify more with the mess of real life than with escapist stories. This isn't a story of immigrant alienation either; it isn't a story of brown vs. white, or Indian vs. American. This book addresses the more realistic contemporary situation of brown vs. brown, brown vs. black--the realities of inter-minority relations. It gives its immigrant characters more power than the traditional Indian immigrant novel; my characters build their own walls; their loneliness are constructed by themselves, not by racial hierarchies. I think immigrants today, Indians, especially--don't want to feel like victims. This book speaks to the empowerment, the individualism of today's Indians in America.
Extract Chapter 1 Page 21
That night they lay together on George's twin mattress. Viji had drifted off almost immediately, with her head tucked into his shoulder, but George stayed awake to count off the hours and the sounds that drifted around them. At three-o-clock, a ghostly sigh. Three-forty-seven, a sudden jerk of his legs. He wondered if she loved him. She never said the words, exactly, and seemed to know instinctively not to. But she must have, to some degree ufffdhe sensed it in the way she slept, her head tucked against his shoulder,u00a0 light with certainty and peace. He didn't love her of course, no more than he would have if they were still in Madras, meeting in the evenings and parting wordlessly each night.u00a0 This didn't trouble him.u00a0 He loved her enough. It was easy to say these things in the dark, without the 'buts' and 'what-ifs of daylight'. He loved her enough for now, and the rest could come with time.
The Prayer Room by Shanthi Sekaran is published by HarperCollins and is priced at Rs 350. Available at all leading bookstores.
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