Sunday, March 23, 2003		Books

Love in the shadow of the Taj
Meeta Rajivlochan

Seeking the Taj: A Tale of Love and Awakening in a Far Country
by Elaine Williams. New Delhi, Rupa. Pages 312. Rs 195.

CAN love blossom in the weirdest of settings or is it engendered only between the odd ones in fantastic settings? Elaine Williams’ latest novel, oddly enough for an American author, has been first published in India. It tells the story of a young American girl who falls in love with an Indian prince in the shadow of the Taj. His aunt helps to relieve her of many social and psychological burdens from the past that haunt her.

Garnet Lawler, the young girl, simply does not seem to fit in with the hip culture of the 1960s in which the story is set. There is the burdensome, acrimonious and extremely abrasive Niles, for whom she has been caring out of self-assumed commitments. Her past life has been difficult enough for her to believe that she is plagued by ill luck.

Through her walks in Agra for researching her next book, Garnet comes in contact with a Sikh holy man called Sri Devanda (sic) who greets people with "Shanti, shanty! The darkness of disease is driven away by the light of God’s perfect presence". The prince with whom she falls in love "resembled one of those. Bred like a calf force-fed for roasting with round stomach and fat cheeks, skin silky with ghee butter and spices, and fleshy-lidded eyes of sienna melting into gold. His full lips sharply cut and turned up at the edges, looked soft and plump in the centre, delectable as a chocolate truffle".

He is attracted to her and she to him. But there is a dark secret from days gone by which disables her from either accepting his love or expressing her own. As a result, the author takes us through some more gastronomic adventures. We get to know of some interesting cakes and other foods that Indian princes designed for themselves. There also is a historian, a cousin of the Prince, who was supposed to revel in "digging up royal skeletons and their nasty secrets," but who actually was quite well informed about the history of Rajasthan, Agra and the Taj.

Meandering through discussions about Shaivism, femininity, feminism and much more, Elaine Williams takes us through a fascinating account of self-discovery by a sensitive wannabe author. But does she end up writing her book? Or is she content to be part of the book? Now, that is something that the reader would have to discover herself.