The Namesake: an intimate and colorful read

Book author: Jhumpa Lahiri

It wasn’t in my reading list. After I read Interpreter of Maladies, I assumed that Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing tastes a bit pale for me. But this copy with a fringe of bright colors didn’t seem anything like pale! I bought the copy after one look and thought I would let it sit in my collection. Until one day, I ran out of fiction and moved the book from its place.

Well, the story hooked me up very much! And tasted very spicy.

A newly married Bengali couple moves to the US. A very typical setting. Husband teaches at a university, and the wife takes care of the house. The kids are born, named, their birthdays celebrated, and soon they become adults. The story was very fast flowing. On one page, details of a day’s events, on the next page details of some other time. The book eventually covers a lot, but it didn’t miss to give you a personal feeling. It was a summary of all the personal feelings and stories of this Bengali family. Like the details and secrets you get to know after being friends with someone for many years.

The writing is seamless. You get all the flavors of a culture, where the root is Bengali, but the branches are Americanized. However direction the story went, there was always this air of a mixed culture, mixed lifestyle, coping up, missing out and feeling lost.

My paperback got too many bookmarks I adored.

Adored the Bengali bride ornamented by Lahiri that matched the picture of my mother’s bridal get up too-

Her lips were darkened, her brow and cheeks dotted with sandalwood paste, her hair wound up, bound with flowers, held in place by a hundred wire pins that would take an hour to remove once the wedding was finally over. Her head was draped in scarlet netting. She wore all the necklaces and chokers and bracelets that were destined to live most of their lives in an extra-large safety deposit box in a bank in New England.

Rest of the bookmarks will be opened some other days, will jim jam them with leisure time!

The Namesake takes you to an intimate world of a Bengali family, makes you connected to their pain and joy, makes you wonder how it feels to live a life where you are continents apart from your roots. Cozy and colorful read!