BOOK: BEFORE WE VISIT THE GODDESS

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni- My favorite author. She ladles my emotions and mostly unseen creativity with her words. Never has it been possible to shove away her book midway, never have her characters moved past me long after completion. My most favorite of her is 'The Palace of Illusions'- her portrayal of the relationship between Karna and Panchali- for that alone, I adore her. This closely ranks second.

As always, I was impatient to read the initial few pages. The narration was shifting between times, and for someone as me who had began reading after nearly 3 years, it was difficult to comprehend. Yet, as I persevered, it was every bit THAT tantalizing.

Sabitri, Bela and Tara- their (non)-relationship between three generations of women, and how their relationships are largely influenced by the men of their lives. Sabitri yearns for an education, ensures Bela receives it. But love lures Bela into running out of the country without her mother's knowledge and consent, ofcourse, dropping out of college. Sabitri is torn by this separation, much more by her daughter's deceit. Her relationship with Bipin Babu, rather his relation to Sabitri. How despite all these ordeals and despite Bipin's insistence, she reinforces her stand of living alone. The scene where Durga Sweets is vandalized by Naxals and their immediate conversations are a class apart.

Bela: How her innocent narration of a truth distanced her mother and dad. How Sabitri blames her for something she does not even realize. While she realizes and yearns for her mother post marriage in the US, she is mostly influenced by her husband- Sanjay - the only villian, if i may say so, of the novel. How he tries hard to keep Tara, their daughter, out of her. How every action of his has an ulterior motivation. How a bitter unannounced divorce tears her apart and how she picks up herself post divorce with the help of Ken-the boy who stayed right above her apartment. Her weight loss episodes and her taking to writing culinary books are an inspiration. Although a small part, Ken's characterization is very integral to the raise of Bela from shambles. If only every disastrous life had an upliftment as Ken!!!!

Tara: The girl who had to undergo a surge of happiness to the valley of disaster post her parent's divorce. As much as I would resent girls her age behave the way she does, at every instant she had my sympathy. Caught between the melodrama of her mother and manipulations of her father, she makes up for everything she was denied with, being a Kleptomaniac. The near death encounter with Dr Venkatachalapathi and her visit to the temple with Dr V were God's directions to her- a reinforcement of faith that howmuchsoever you may waver from the destined path, your strings are with GOD and He/She will ensure you are back on the track.

All the three women rose from ashes with near death encounters. If it was her husband's death and winning the case over her deceased husband's  organization for Sabitri that led her to Durga Sweets- the sweet stall she names after her dead mother, it was the unexpected divorce for Bela and her rise to being the best selling author of two culinary books. For Tara, it is her ability to build her family after her near encounter with death following a failed relationship and an abortion.

And, what a way to end an epic.

"a new recipe I had perfected, the sweet I would go on to name after my dead mother. I took a bite of the conch-shaped dessert, the palest, most elegant mango color. The smooth creamy flavor of fruit and milk, sugar and saffron mingled and melted on my tongue. Satisfaction overwhelmed me. This was something I had achieved by myself, without having to depend on anyone. No one could take it away. That's what I want from you, my Tara, my Bela. That's what it means to be a fortunate lamp"

To say the book enthralled me is an understatement.  One interesting observation about CBD's women are the lack of sainthood with which she paints her characters. Be it the sisters of 'Sisters of the heart' or the most celebrated Panchali of 'The palace of illusions' or Sabitri, Bela and Tara of 'Before we visit the Goddess'- all these women have their own share of sins. Either situation driven, or deceit driven or age driven- all these women have a thread of sin connecting them- sin, a very innate nature of humanhood. For Sabitri it was to avenge the insult she was subjected to. for Bela, it was the nonacceptance of cruelty (that her tenants were subjected to). For Tara, it was all those 'so near, yet so far' persons/things/happiness that she was denied. I retrospected my own life with respect to my sins and began understanding myself in a new dimension after this book.