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Melancholy of Innocence
The book recounts the story of a thirteen-year-old Turkish boy, Umit, who falls in love with Masum, a girl eight years elder to him. An innocent and gentle-hearted boy, Umit is raised by his parents in an environment where independence of thought and action is given, where the path to righteousness is not enforced. He is allowed to understand life, make his own mistakes and, if he wants to, learn from them. "By keeping him directionless, his parents kept him on track – in direction." Being raised with such understanding, he becomes a compassionate, honest person with an un‘adult’erated view of life. The first time Umit sets eyes on Masum in an Instanbul bazaar, the whole world stopped around him, his heart was beating fast, his knees went weak and he went into a trance. He saw her as an unreachable star who was unaware of a worshipper on the earth. Over the next few days, he cannot help but keep thinking about her. He searches for her everywhere till he finds her again and follow her to her house. As he lingers there, he hears the neighbours discussing that the Mirzas are looking for a servant. As he prepares to get into the mould of a servant in Masum’s house to be near her and serve her, he realises that for him, "the important thing is to remove the shells and layers from his being to find the child within him, rather than impose new layers and shells of learning". When he is taken into the fold of the Mirza household, his joy knows no bounds. On the first day, as he organises Masum’s room, he feels her touch on various things and arranges items as she would need them. Treated with respect by Anne and Effendi, Masum’s parents, and almost as an equal by Masum and her brother Bulut, he gains love and trust of the family by serving as a diligent boy. Slowly, the friendship between Umit and Masum grows as she starts teaching him. He understands what she needs at a particular time and provides it before she asks. He starts writing letters and poems to her expressing his profound emotions, telling her how he feels a "ruh" (soul) connect with her. As he sits to draw her portrait, the act of sharpening the pencil itself becomes religious. She does not react to his love at once, but grows confused as she tries to intellectualise their relationship. She does behave kindly towards her, but does the growing understanding of their symbolic body gestures, like standing at the window, looking outside signaling that one person is thinking about the other, blossoms into love? What does future hold for them and what is the equation they share as they grow up? Simplicity is both the boon and bane of the plot of the story. Innocence in characters is heartening, but too much simplicity of expressions and motives can kill the literary merit of the book that aims at philosophising about love and life. Sometimes the words flow like a gushing stream of water and at others the cracks in the narrative, like bringing alive the settings of culturally rich Turkey and harping on the teachings of Sufism, come to the fore. Given that it is the first book written by Raj Doctor, an architect, the language portrays the beautiful emotions of Umit through poetry and letters; but lacks as a sustainable narrative. Read on for a positive, "too-good-to-be-true" kind of love and devotion; and to get drenched in the overpowering and innocent emotions of love. Experience the death by being in love as Masum’s grandmother says, "When you are in love – that is the only death!"
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DO you remember the rush
of first love when everything around you turns beautiful and the
serenity of love follows you no matter where you are? When that special
person beholds the ethereal qualities and you cannot help smiling to
yourself. Melancholy of Innocence takes you back to that pure feeling of
being immensely enchanted by the heady fragrance of beloved and melody
of emotions.