Friday, October 16, 2020

Reading Group Questions for Bombay Trilogy

 


The overarching subject of Cheryl Snell's Bombay Trilogy is the meaning of home, and how we navigate the intersection between duty and individuation. The theme of the concluding  third volume, Kalpavriksha, narrows in on the nature of kinship. The following are questions for discussion:


The novel opens with the Sambashivan family meeting for a wedding between a Bollywood bride and a favorite son of the family. The union is joyously received, unlike the marriage two generations earlier between Ramesh and the American Alice. How did the Brahmins alter their strict codes of proper behavior in order to accept Lalith’s profession? Is caste more important in the Sambashivan clan than traditional values?


 Developing the exploration of caste from another angle, Ram meets his student Anand on the street outside the wedding hall. The boy is a Dalit, an Untouchable, and immediately suffers an incident of casual racism at the hands of Ram’s brother. .More cruelty follows in a sequence of events that has Anand’s father paying the ultimate price of being shunned. However he leaves a revelation for his son that  changes the young man’s identity and could ease his burdens. Did this storyline remind you of the current status of race relations in this country?

 Nela and Ramesh overcome the coolness between them to band together at the hospital where Anand has taken his father. How do siblings’ respective roles in the family change over time, especially when one member exceeds the entire family’s expectations as spectacularly as Nela has?

 The brother and sister are accompanied to the hospital by Nela’s adopted daughter Ranu. She is considered a goddess in her village for her ability to emotionally heal people, although she herself is not whole. She has a deformed leg. That’s enough reason for some of her relatives to consider her unmarriageable. So, when she and Ram and Alice’s son Sam upstage the bride and groom by announcing their own engagement, these relations are aghast. Does that reaction have more to do with Ranu being adopted (her caste unknown) than her physical imperfection?

 A recurring motif in Kalpavriksha has to do with freedom and how far the characters go to get it. Marriage that benefits the joint-families involved is one way. Geographical distance is another. Ram, Nela, and Sam all go away to college where they can hear their own voices above the din of the genetic collective, Reconfiguring the idea of family is still another way --who will we allow into our inner circle, based on what criteria? It’s not always blood. For instance, Ram’s central conflict is resolved when he takes Anand under his wing; Nela uses her fame to rescue her imprisoned husband; and Alice accepts her status as an outsider by using her art to record the truth of the family’s interactions. These are novelistic solutions to problems developed within the text, but in real life, how have you reconciled independence and duty?

 


 

1 comment:

Cheryl and Janet Snell said...

Notes from the Zoom discussion of Kalpavriksha by the Wingate Book Group:

Of course, several in the group thought that Alice was you! Sonia told us your comment was that you "know" Alice but she is not you. She is a composite character. We still think she's you, though. We particularly hear your voice in many of Alice's quick-witted remarks. 😁

Comments from the group:
Good portrayal of American/Indian culture, 2 cultures/1 family, cross cultural family dynamics
Characters are authentic based on experiences with Indian friends and colleagues
Universal family story

Loved the prose and flow of language, wonderful writing style

Thought Lalith & Venky were caricatures contrasting with Ram & Alice

Compared treatment of Dalits to current BLM/racial injustice/police abuse issues in US
Impact of caste: Ram's life vs Anand's

Moments/images/descriptions that stood out to people:
Bollywood style wedding - all show, no real love
Bhagu alone on the gurney in the hospital
Alice getting dressed for the wedding in her pink dress and high heels
Ranu's connection with people, healing spirit

Sam and Ranu's engagement was a surprise; some thought Anand and Ranu might get together

Cheryl needs to keep writing because we want to know what happens to Anand!

We enjoyed the book and had a great discussion.