Sunday, August 31, 2003		Books

Roller-coaster ride of joys, sorrows & love
Aditi Garg

Mila in Love
by Dina Mehta
Penguin Books. Pages 267. Rs 295.

AS far as films and novels are concerned, the theme of love is never stale. Dina Mehta’s novel, Mila in Love, also follows the same trend — though the approach is not usual and ordinary. Her first novel, And Some Take a Lover, was based on a Parsi family’s allegiances that were at odds with the general sentiment prevailing in the country during the Quit India movement. She has published two books of short stories and is currently busy with her third collection.

British novelist George Eliot writes that the strongest and most enduring love is that in which passion comes to unite with affection. She could not have said it better. The young are impressionable and sometimes get so smitten by a particular person that nothing else can take their place. Further, nothing can be worse for a woman than to be in love with a man who, in turn, is besotted with her mother. The novel, with its emotion, drama, humour and suspense, will keep the reader engrossed.

Mehta explores the life of Mila, her Parsi protagonist. She takes us on a roller-coaster ride of Mila’s joys, sorrows, insecurities and, most of all, her love for Rayhaan. He is the writer who is desperate to make it big and he is the only hope she clings to through her hard times. When all else seems futile, she packs her bags and leaves for the USA. In order to make a clean break with her past, she insists that she be called Sharmila, and not Mila as she had been known till then. Her perception of herself and of the people around her changes dramatically when she returns to India as Sharmila.

Her mother Shivani is depressive and subsequently becomes mad. She is a perfect example of what an extramarital relationship can do to a marriage as well as to the people involved. She evokes empathy in the reader. The mistress of Mila’s father is a scheming widow, Gita, who leads him to infidelity. Nothing can stop her from gaining complete control over the man she desires to be with. She tries, ineffectively, to make Mila an accomplice in her scheme of things. The daughter, in turn, leaves no chance to show her down and spouts venom at every possible opportunity. Even though he is surrounded by a hysterical wife, devious mistress and a very resentful daughter, Mila’s father is of a quiet demeanour.

The strongest presence in the novel is that of Mila’s grandmother, even though she makes fleeting appearances. She is a tyrannical woman who does not stop at anything to make the life of her daughter-in-law miserable. She doesn’t let her forget that she has failed miserably in her duty to produce a son. The fear of delivering a baby girl is quite real for women in India as is reinforced by Ritu, Mila’s friend. She refuses to suckle her child as she does not want to accept the fact that she has given birth to a daughter.

Mehta also makes references to the Indian concept of beauty — the obsession with fair skin and the current trend of being reed thin. She shows how Mila tries to live up to the Indian standards of virtue by trying hard not to give in to her American boyfriend’s sexual advances. Dina keeps us guessing about what the future holds for her and Rayhaan by keeping him out of he story till the very end.

Dina’s literal translation of words and phrases from Hindi to English — as in "workthief" (kamchor) an "eye or marbles in your head" (aankhein hain ya bantae) — make for interesting reading and lend an Indian touch to the narrative.