Mr. H.Balakrishnan is a freelancer writer from Bhubaneswar whose work is published in India and abroad. This review was also published in 'The Christian Science Monitor'.
Daddy- A Bouquet of Memories
I have a positive dislike, if not dread, for big books. (In fact the only tome I remember reading is ‘The Agony and the Ecstacy’). Today, I find myself at the end of a 571-page tome. My impression after the first 100 pages that it would be worthwhile to complete reading the book is confirmed.
Daddy- A Bouquet of Memories may not be anywhere near Irving Stone’s novel on Leonardo da Vinci. Yet, it does reflect an equal devotion to the subject- in this case her own father. Biographies by relatives tend to be hagiographies. This bouquet might have a whiff of that, but the whiff does not reek. But the book could have been edited to a crisper, shorter volume.
Dr. Ferose Ali was a medical doctor born into a middle class Muslim family in Orissa. An unconventional man who did not care for institutionalized religion but lived the life of a devout human being- in the cause of the community and his family As a boy, he had the privilege of being chosen to carry food and goat’s milk (Gandihiji’s staple) to the Mahatma when he visited his hometown, Cuttack.
Nargis is the fourth child and third daughter in Dr Ali’s family of seven children. He had a kind face and a kinder heart. The number of poor people who got free medical care from him over decades was legion. He had done a great deal for the promotion of sport and inter-communal amity in Berhampur, a town he adopted as his own.
The home of the Alis at Berhampur (known as the ‘White House’ as it was always painted with a coat of lime every year) was a sort of guest house for relatives. Anyone from the extended family in dire straits, from any part of the country who had nowhere else to go, found refuge there.
Dr. Ali comes through as a very humane human being. He was a man with unconventional ideas to solve the problems of his country. His penchant for publishing and distributing pamphlets containing is views on any subject under the sun, his ability to stand up to the conservative elements within the Muslim community, and his quicksilver changes in political views are brought out vividly. His apparent naiveté is also projected (he would never look at the money given by his patients and some used to pass on fake notes and fancy currency as his ‘fees’). The foibles of Ferose are also not glossed over. For instance, the fudging of his children’s dates of birth (a common practice among even highly placed public men in India) and issuing countless ‘doctor’s certificates’ to help truant students appear for the annual exams (‘If I refuse them, a dozen doctors would give them- and for a higher fee’). To that extent, this is not a hagiography.
Nargis has also given free rein to her sense of humour and quotes extensively from anecdotes far and near in time. Characters like the faithful driver- Man Friday Shankar, Bodi the poor deaf (?) maid who remained a retainer for 36 years, the short and dark lottery seller, a tenacious ‘regular’ at the White House- and above all the impish, irrepressible brother Faiyaz, stand out in relief. The book also talks about her own life after marriage to a Hindu boy from a broad-minded family, her children and her life in a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual society where the family lives a happy life. From this angle, it gives a certain perspective about Hindu society.
For a girl from the unpretentious town of Berhampur to have written a readable book of such richness is commendable. Readers who are familiar with pre-Independent and post-Independent India would find events and anecdotes ringing a bell in their minds. For those outside India, the book would give an honest perspective of a modern Muslim family in secular Independent India- warts and all.
The title of the book, to say the least is uninspired. This first edition also suffers from some obvious editorial snafus. But then, they are minor and could be attended to in the next. On the whole, a book that is eminently readable.
Mr. Mohanty is a Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad.
A book recently released in the twin cities pays tribute to an idealistic father and is a timely reminder about inter-religious living.
In ‘Daddy: A Bouquet of Memories’ (New Delhi: Minerva Press India, 2003), released by Professor Isaac Sequeira at an impressive function at Secunderabad on April 18th, Nargis Natarajan attempts to use the commonly used, but difficult form of memoir that combines personal narrative with family history.
Autobiographical fiction, or fiction based on personal/family history has been used by Indian English novelists such as Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth and David Davidar. Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s children’, Seth’s ‘A Suitable Boy’ and Davidar’s ‘The House of Blue Mangoes’ readily come to our mind.
Nargis is not writing, however, an autobiographical narrative. She has composed a straightforward memoir as a tribute to her father Dr. Ferose Ali. This might sound easy; actually a memoir based on family history is hard to achieve as a work of art. The most difficult aspect of course is finding material that can be elevated from the world of commonplace family affairs and win wider popular appeal. An attendant difficulty is the need to make a selection out of the many events and circumstances and ensure a rendering that would have lasting value. Nargis, by her own admission, offers an outpouring. A skilled hand would prefer, instead, a shorter version.
According to Nargis, she does not possess ‘the gift of conveying my feelings in a remarkable economy of words’, and has therefore gone ahead to write a long work of 579 pages. Her distinction lies in the fact that she was born to a father who was truly a remarkable personality. Idealistic and unconventional to the core, Dr. Ferose Ali stood out by his iconoclastic and unorthodox views- a man of goodwill and a great humanist who questions social evils and religious bigotry in all quarters. It is these idealistic aspects of the father’s personality that are the stuff of Nargis’ literary imagination. It is these that lend excitement and strength to the narrative and provide the necessary appeal. They ensure a flow in the book, as they apparently did in her own unconventional life when she chose to find a life companion from a different religious background and community.
‘When I first started to write’, says Nargis’, ‘it was with a very selfish attitude’. I wrote because I wanted to glorify my Daddy. I wrote because I wanted to recover my feelings. But as I progressed, something happened. I began to feel that writers have certain obiligations…’
Nargis’s book has an impressive historical sweep. It talks about the Khilafat movement, Mohammed Ali, Shaukat Ali and Maulana Azad…However, its best pictures are reserved for the 70’s which coincide with the adolescence of the narrator. We see, in the book, life in a provincial town, the ‘White House’ where the family lived, St. Vincent’s Convent School, the local Khallikote College, the Stadium, the Church, the MKCG Medical College and the Indian Rare Earth at Gopalpur on Sea. These provide the local colour.
Nargis’ world combines a rich assemblage of elements. Disparate to the outside eye, they are fused into a harmonious whole when seen through the eyes of the father. This world contain typically Hindu and Oriya elements: bhai, apa, bhabi, chacha, Mahabharata, Bali Jatra and the Jagannath temple at Puri…. It also embraces the Islamic world with an equal ease: jaan, jaaanum, Eid festival, namaaz and Bhaijaan… All mediated through the Western culture, typically the British and the American: ‘Pygmalion’ of Bernard Shaw, Tarzan movies, James Bond’s ‘The Spy who loved me’ and the Rummy Club……
Parvati Khan may have run into trouble because of the combination in her name but Nargis had a relatively smooth sailing childhood. The strength of her father’s personality and a relatively progressive environment at Berhampur clearly made that possible, although she inevitably encountered her quota of prejudice as she grew up. Into this world, came the various allusions to contemporary cinema and culture: Waheeda Rehman, Jeetendra, Manoj Kuma, Amitabh Bachchan, ‘Upkar’ and ‘Padosan’, cow slaughter, Vinobha Bhave, Rabi Ray and Jayaprakash Narayan…
Events in the town that carry personal, religious and political significance too come in for a close scrutiny. Inevitably, there is the world of personal love and spouse selection. While her aim in life initially was to be an interior decorator, soon it turned to ‘find someone to understand me as I am!’ Although the book is about the father, in a deeper sense, it is also about Nargis herself, her attempt to find a foothold and come to terms with life. She finds support in the father’s commitment to an egalitarian and spiritual life beyond narrow sectarian barriers.
Finally, Nargis’ story is the story of many of us. Given the uniqueness of her background, it is however, a special account. An account whose relevance is both immediate and insistent in our days of troubled and fractured living.
************************************************************************************ 4. A review of the book by yet another Sulekha Blogger Red Strawberry, who lives in Richmond.
Mark Sykes is the Editor in chief, Minerva, London.
This glorious tribute to an illustrious father by a doting daughter makes for fascinating reading. Biographical in approach, the author traces her journey from the womb to this world to adulthood under the benign presence of her father. This novel brings to life the scenario of bygone days, of the British Raj and of newly independent India.
The gradual transformation of society, the political upheavals and religious animosity all find expression here. Based in Berhampur, this is a true life story of life in a small town. The words seem to have a style and rhythm of their own. The author paints a wonderful picture and she has an excellent command over the language. This book would definitely appeal to lovers of good literature.
It has been very rewarding to encounter the work of Nargis Natarajan. I believe that Ms. Natarajan has a significant opportunity to make a mark, and to find favour with both the Indian and the global reading public.