The steamer hooted again, a little closer now, melancholy, hollow.
I noticed irrelevant things: that her sari was the green of a tender banana leaf, that its border had flecks of lemon in it, that she had tiny, fish-shaped gold studs in her ears, that the same thin gold chain still rode over her collarbone and disappeared into her white blouse. I traced the chain with the tip of my finger.
Our clothes were getting soaked in the grey river-bed, our feet were sinking in the mud, Bakul’s hair had come loose, one of her gold studs had slipped off, the number of staring children on the opposite bank had gone up from two to seven, and they were leaping up and down, laughing and pointing and shouting things we could not hear. I took in none of this.
All I felt was that life had finally floated down the river and reached me.
FINIS
GLOSSARY
aanchal
one end of the sari, covering the shoulders and sometimes the head
achaar
pickle
adivasis
tribal people
almirah
cupboard
aloo
potato
apsara
divine beauty
arre baap
lit. “Oh father”, exclamation of alarm
arre bhai
lit. “Oh brother”, expression of affection
Baba
father
Babu
suffix added to men’s names to show respect
bael
Bengal quince, Aegle marmelos; a hard-shelled fruit
Bahu
daughter-in-law
bathua
a wild spinach
beedi
a cheap, strong smoke
ber
a wild berry
bhoot
ghost
bhuttawala
corn-seller
Bibi
affectionate Urdu term for a married woman
biryani
richly flavoured rice cooked with meat
bonti
a curved blade mounted on a wooden stand
Boudi
older brother’s wife
Bouma
daughter-in-law
brinjal
aubergine
bulbul
Indian bird with a sweet call
Chacha/Chachi
Uncle/Aunt
chappal
slippers
charpoy
rough, cheap string cot
daal
lentil curry
Dada
older brother
Dadu
grandfather
dalna
a light curry
dekchi
large cooking vessel
deodar
Cedrus deodara, a gigantic Himalayan cedar
dhakai paratha
paratha layered with egg and meat
dhoti
man’s unstitched lower garment
Didi
older sister
doob
a fine, soft grass
duree
rug
Durga puja
an important annual festival worshipping the goddess Durga, who vanquishes evil
Durvasa Muni
a mythological sage renowned for his temper
gaandu
a term of abuse
Ganga
the Ganges, one of India’s largest rivers, considered sacred
Gangajal
holy water from the Ganges
garh
fortress
ghat
steps to a river, bathing area
ghee
clarified butter
goondas
thugs
gotra
sub-caste
grihaprastha
one of the four traditional stages in a Hindu’s life: the householder stage
gulli
alleyway
gulmohar
Delonix regia, a tree which is covered in bright-orange blossoms in summer
hakim
practitioner of traditional Islamic medicine
haraami
bastard; term of abuse
Hari, Hari
exclamation, something like “Dear God!”
havaldar
low-ranking policeman
huzoor
lordship
jamun
Java plum
jatra
folk theatre
jhaal muri
spicy puffed rice
jhinuk
a spoon for feeding babies
jhola
cloth bag
joota
shoe
juldi karo
“Hurry up”
junglee
savage [noun and adj.], used as mild, often friendly, abuse
kachnar
Bauhinia variegata, a flowering tree with elegant purple or pink blossoms
kajal
kohl; black eye make-up used in the East
kanthas
thin, home-stitched quilts
kashi
large, flat-bottomed vessel with a low rim
khadi
rough, handspun cotton advocated by Mahatma Gandhi
khansama
cook and bearer
khurpi
kukri
curved Sikkimese knife
kurta
long, shirt-like garment
kutcha
unmetalled
lakh
one hundred thousand
lungi
unstitched lower garment worn by men
Ma/Mataji
mother
machan
a high, sheltered bamboo perch
madhabilata
Rangoon Creeper,
Quisqualis indica maulvi
muslim cleric
mela
fair/carnival
memsahib
originally, white woman; any upper-class woman
mishti
dessert; any kind of sweet dish
mofussil
small town
moong
green lentil
moshai
Sir; respectful form of address which can be used sarcastically
mulmul
soft, fine cotton
muri
puffed rice
namaskar
Indian greeting with joined palms and bowed head
neem
Margosa, Azadirachta indica, a tree with medicinal properties, whose twigs are used to clean teeth
nullah
drain/narrow canal
paan
an addictive concoction of betel leaf, areca nut, tobacco, and other condiments, usually consumed after meals
pagli/pagla
crazy girl/man
pakora
salty fritter
papad
poppadum
paratha
fried, unleavened flat-bread
Parsi
Zoroastrian
payesh
Bengali version of rice pudding
peepal
sacred fig, Ficus religiosa
peon
office boy
phirni
Mughal version of rice pudding
poori
fried, puffed bread
puja
ceremonial prayer
pukur
open water tank, often large and used for bathing
purohitmoshai
priest
raat ki rani
Cestrum nocturnum, Lady of the Night
rezala
rich meat curry
riyaaz
music practice
rossogullas
a spongy, syrupy sweet
roti
unleavened, wholewheat bread
rui
a kind of
carp
sarangi
a stringed musical instrument
Saraswati puja
yearly festival to invoke the Goddess of Learning
semul
silk cotton, Bombax ceiba, a towering, beautiful tree, almost leafless when it has its showy red flowers
shehnai
wind instrument usually played at weddings
shingara
deep-fried, triangular pastry filled with spicy vegetables or mincemeat
sindoor
red mark in the parting of a married Hindu woman’s hair
stupa
Buddhist monument
supari
areca nut
swadeshi
a phase of the nationalist movement in India when people were urged to reject foreign goods in favour of those locally manufactured. Clothes made from imported fabrics were thrown into public bonfires as a mark of protest.
tanpura
a stringed musical instrument
Thak’ma
slang for “thakuma”, i.e., grandmother
theek hai
“It’s alright”
tonga
horse-drawn carriage for hire
tussar
luxurious, traditionally woven silk
vaid
practitioner of traditional Hindu medicine
zamindar
landowner
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Christopher MacLehose – perfect reader, magnificent editor – has shown me all that it is possible for a publisher to be. His invisible ink is on every page.
Ravi Dayal used his considerable powers of persuasion to make me show him a draft when I was too uncertain to part with it; his acerbic pencilling in the margins became my last conversation with him.
Thanks to Shruti Debi for her persistence and her descriptions of crumbling old homes, some of which have entered the story; Laura Palmer for her reassuring combination of friendliness and efficiency; Nayanjot Lahiri for saving me from archaeological blunders; Katharina Bielenberg for being a last, super-fine sieve; Rohan D’Souza’s writings for teaching me about floods, and Rajdeep Mukherjee for all the thrillers. The tribal song is adapted from one in Verrier Elwin’s Leaves from the Jungle.
Friends (especially the B.M.C. and Ladeez Sangeet) and family made this book possible by just being there. Among them, Myriam Bellehigue, Kristine Witt-Hansen, Uday Roy, Manishita Das, Arundhati Ray, Sharmi Roy, Kavita Sivaramakrishnan, and Angela Smith have tolerated various ill-timed demands on their affection, which included the reading of drafts. Mukul Kesavan, Ivan Hutnik, Sikha Ghosh, Thomas Abraham, Prateek Jalan, and Ram Guha provided encouragement and insider info, and Uday Kumar space and supplies.
Thanks to Ma, Pa, and their bookshop for room in their lives and shelves; Chandra Dorai and Sukanta Chaudhuri for giving me the words; and Biscoot for making it clear that words are not anywhere as expressive as tail, eyes, and paw.
My mother for taking stories I scribbled into schoolbooks as seriously as she did drafts of this novel, and for making me believe I would finish it by simply repeating that I would.
In the end R – and not just for the optimal silences.
An Atlas of Impossible Longing
Reading Group Guide
Introduction
Set in the outskirts of a small town in Bengal in the mid-twentieth century, An Atlas of Impossible Longing is a multigenerational novel that weaves together a family’s story of romance, abandonment, forgiveness, and desire. Told in three powerful parts, the book explores what it means to live with the ghosts of the past, deal with an ever-changing present, and strive toward a blissful future that always seems just out of reach.
Discussion Questions
1 “The silence that to Amulya meant repletion locked Kananbala within a bell jar she felt she could not prise open for air” (page 16). The move from busy Calcutta to secluded Songarh is life changing for both Amulya and Kananbala, though in very different ways. Discuss how each is affected by the change.
2. “He would look at [the plants] tenderly, wanting to stroke and pat them…. He had created a garden where there had been wilderness” (page 23). Describe Amulya’s relationship to nature throughout the book. How does he treat the plants in his garden? Similarly, how did you interpret his fascination with the young dancer’s Incarnata flower in the first chapter?
3. “The lion’s roar was a secret she could not share with anybody else. The others slept on, oblivious to the throbbing wakefulness of the jungle” (page 19). Consider the roar of the lion that Kananbala hears periodically throughout the novel. Do you think Kananbala is hearing the roar of an actual lion, or do you think, in her madness, she is imagining the noise? What could the noise mean?
4. Marriage can be both a blessing and a struggle, as the married couples in this novel exemplify. Review the various married couples involved in the story and discuss: Which marriage do you think works the best? Which is the unhealthiest? Why?
5. “Bitterly she muttered, ‘God’s ways are strange, that He should give children to those who don’t care for them and leave me childless” (page 132). Manjula is seldom portrayed as a sympathetic character in the novel, yet her yearning for the child she can never have often gives her a certain vulnerability. How do you view Manjula? Does your opinion of her change over the course of the book?
6. Kananbala and Mrs. Barnum share a bond from the moment Mrs. Barnum initiates the first wave. Does their relationship change after Kananbala witnesses Mr. Barnum’s murder? If so, how? Do you think Kananbala and Mrs. Barnum’s relationship at all contributes to Mrs. Barnum’s fondness for Bakul and Mukunda?
7. The theme of man versus nature cuts through the novel, particularly when Bikash Babu laments the fall of his house to the rising river: “The arrogance,” he repeats. What emotions do you think he is feeling at that moment? At what point do you think he realizes that nature has truly won?
8. Mukunda’s unknown caste gives him both trouble and freedom throughout the novel. In what ways does it help him? Hurt him? At any point, do you think he is treated unfairly because of his indefinite lineage?
9. When Mukunda buys the house in Songarh, he believes he will finally be able to live a fulfilled life. Ultimately, what choices has he made by buying the house? What does he lose, and what does he gain?
10. The pull of forbidden love is strong for many of the characters. Which characters resist this pull, and which seem to welcome it? Are any of them successful in refusing to succumb to forbidden love? If so, who?
11. “If anyone in his family or neighbourhood got to know, there would be turmoil; Meera would certainly be ostracized, and perhaps he would be too” (page 139). Consider the strain put on the characters by societal expectations. Do you think her certain exclusion from society is the only reason Meera runs from her attraction to Nirmal?
12. The above quote suggests a double standard for women and men in these types of situations; Meera will “certainly be ostracized,” while Nirmal may only “perhaps” suffer society’s disdain. How is this double standard a reflection of society, and what is your reaction to it? Do you see a double standard for women and men elsewhere in the novel?
13. Noorie the Parrot plays a small yet significant role in the book and in the hearts of those who closely encounter her. What does she represent for Mukunda, the man who threatens to make “parrot stew” of her? To his wife, who sets the bird free to fend for itself? For Chacha and Chachi, who return to Calcutta to find that Noorie is no longer there?
14. After finishing the book, turn back to the beginning and reread the opening Prologue. Discuss: How has your interpretation of the opening paragraphs changed? Does the Prologue evoke different emotions now that you are more acquainted with the house and the river?
15. During the massive displacement of the Indian Partition, more than 100,000 people died. Do you see ways in which these events mirror other events taking place in the world today?
Reading Grou
p Enhancers
1. With the members of your reading group, create a family tree for the characters in the novel. You can use this diagram as a resource during your discussion.
2. Mukunda fondly remembers Chacha’s inability to buy anything but books when he comes into a bit of spare money. Chacha appreciates everything from the “beautiful engraving on the title page” to the smell of the pages of a secondhand book. Take a trip to a bookstore or secondhand book sale in your community as Chacha might have done.
3. Meera’s favorite hobby is taking care of the young pups she finds by the Songarh ruin. She also enjoys sketching them, the ruin, and the people she loves. Find a person, place, or animal that interests you and sketch that subject in two ways: how the subject truly looks—like Nirmal would request if you were sketching the ruin—and how the subject makes you feel.