Sunday, March 23, 2003		Books

Love and longing in Kathmandu
Aradhika Sekhon

The Guru of Love.
by Samrat Upadhyay. Rupa and Co.
Pages: 290. Rs 195.

ALTHOUGH the name of the book is reminiscent of a recent hit movie, the subject and setting are quite different. Set in Kathmandu in the last decade of the previous millennium, the book deals with the fortunes of Ramachandra, a poor math teacher, who teaches in a rundown school in Kathmandu. Ramachandra’s love affair with a student, Malati, changes his cloistered world and that of his family and forces them to examine certain aspects of their familial bonds and their ability to deal with the changed situation. In the process Ramachandra realises just how little he knew about himself and his wife, Goma. He must also deal with the fact that his affair has changed the dynamics of his family, leaving his quiet and faithful wife in control while he flounders along. Finally it is Goma who makes all the important decisions, while he, who has erred, is left with no choice but to go along.

Samrat Upadhyay’s novel, The Guru of Love, is a dispassionate yet sympathetic piece of storytelling. There is an undeniable realism about the madness of the passion that a middle aged teacher feels for his beautiful, poor student. The affair that takes him away from his cramped, austere life, his critical in-laws, his mundane routine and gives him a sense of badly needed self- worth.

The girl, Malati, an unwed mother with a little baby is attracted to "Ramachandra sir" to fulfill her emotional needs. Left in the lurch by her lover and living with an erratic stepmother, she feels that she must clear her SLC exams to make something of her life. The fact that she is extremely poor arouses a sense of compassion for the girl.

Upadhayay deals with his well-etched, multidimensional characters in a compassionate and sympathetic manner. Taking a non-judgmental view, Upadhayay is able to project the turmoil within the family as well as in the city of Kathmandu. Modernisation, a static government and a changing population, brought daily riots to the city. "Rumours have it that a contest of one-upmanship between King Birendra and the Indian Prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi had led India to close most of its borders to Nepal. Supposedly, each felt that the other hadn’t shown him enough respect at political meetings. But, most likely, Ramachandra thought, India was unhappy with King Birendra’s purchase of military hardware from China, not to mention the way Nepal now required Indian workers to obtain permits."

In addition to capturing the political environment of Kathmandu at the time, Upadhayay also successfully captures the atmosphere that prevails in the school where Ramachandra works. "… And then a few years ago he’d found his present job, at the financially trapped Kantipur School, housed in a crumbling building in an alley where stray dogs quarreled and garbage accumulated. His monthly check of Rs 990 was only slightly better than what he had made when he had rushed from one school to the next. But, it was permanent." Upadhyay’s sketches of the dominating Bandana Miss, the headmistress of the school and Shailendra Sir, who is under a cloud for paying undue attention to his student, Namita, gossip in the staff room and classroom — all add to the general atmosphere of a sordid existence.

The strength of the book lies in the fact that in comparing the emotional strengths of men and women, the balance distinctly tilts towards women. Ramachandra pursues Malti for romantic and sexual satisfaction but is besotted with his wife, Goma, whose acceptance of the situation is so total that she gets Malti and her baby to move in with them and forces them to live as a couple under her roof, but on her terms. In spite of this, her concern for her family, which now includes Malti and her baby, does not waver, and indeed, Malti develops a healthy respect and affection for ‘Goma bhauji’. Ramachandra, horrified at first at Goma’s proposal, accepts the situation but loses control over his family. Finally, both women take control of their lives and Ramachandra, the financial supporter of both, turns out to be the person in need, emotionally.

Upadhyay has, in fact, dealt fairly with all the characters in his book. The characters of Sanu, Ramachandra’s daughter, who resents her rich grandparents’ treatment of her father, Mr And Mrs Pandey, Goma’s parents, who "would never stop their criticism of him (Ramachandra), even if he built a grand four-storey house and taught at Tribhuvan University", Ramachandra’s son, Rakesh, the irrepressible schoolboy who cannot understand the reason for adult disputes and even Sharma, Ramachandra’s co-tenant, who gets beaten up for molesting a young girl, are all convincingly etched.

Towering above them all, of course, is Goma, who emerges as a woman of great stature in spite of her simplicity and domesticity and who tells Ramachandra, "I’ve never idealised you. I just knew what I wanted."

Upadhyay has depicted real people in real settings, their compromises, their limitations and mixed intentions, their foibles and their nobility in unexpected situations. The book sets a comfortable pace, taking the reader through a gentle yet invigorating reading experience.