Resumo de The Inheritance Of Loss

The inheritance of loss depicts in its many details the tragedies of a third world country just free from colonialism. Against the gigantic backdrop of the Himalayas, so savage with beauty and yet the stillness of its towering ranges directly draws upon the boring and mundane life of its characters with tumultuous inner sides and shades.       The novel gives us delectable details of the beauty of the natural world. The sound of the wind, the pattering of the rain , the gurgling of pipes, the creaking and clattering of an old house Cho Oyu, the happy snoring of the faithful and happy dog Mutt, sometimes makes reading so refreshing that one can breathe the very crisp Himalayan air and feel surrounded by the looming dark forest.       Ms Desai has presented in this book such lovely details that many a times it feels so much like 'our world?. She has portrayed the human soul, naked and bare. The reader has the choice to take up as much as he wants and the choice to forgo as much.      The novel depicts very well in Jemubhai the dilemmas of post colonialism. The judge Jemubhai perfect manners and demeanor is very much British but he cannot get himself free from the shackles (which he thinks to be so) of traditional Gujrati and Indian mentality. He feels guilty of ill treating his wife Nimmi, of shoving away the "holy coconut throwing in the water custom?. He seems to be a man who is caught, caught between the past and the present, between his days in London and his slow and mundane life in the crumbling house Cho Oyu, between his daughter and his grand daughter, Sai, between the Nepali's struggling for their land and freedom and his own British world of thick volumes of English Literature, of crones at teatime and the choice of white sauce and brown sauce for dinner and his lovely dog Mutt.      But soon Kalimpong becomes the hub of activities. The Nepali's struggle to get their own rights and land slowly creeps into the lives of the characters, the cook, the judge, Sai, Noni, Lola and gnaws and questions their very being. The characters like Father Booty and Uncle Potty who have been living here for years and never bothered to ponder upon their rights to live in this land, are very much caught in the dark just like the middle aged sisters Lola and Noni, who, polished with an education , books and English literature get a rude shock when the GNLF leader molests Lola with his vulgar words and mocks at her middle agedness.
      The movement does not even spare Biju the cook's son in America who comes back only to be robbed of all his money and belongings . But yet the reader finds a quaint satisfaction in the union of father and son in the backdrop of a disturbed land of Kalimpong. At least Biju feels safe and at peace compared to his lonely life as a waiter thrown from one restaurant kitchen to another.
       The progress of the human heart is clearly depicted in Sai. Her yearnings and passion for Gyan, the long wait , the quarrel of English values and Nepali struggles only make her realize and look at life more closely, the very human soul which had been quite frozen and regularized with strict orders in the missionary convent school in Dehra Dun.
      But Ms Desai has dealt very harshly with the Nepalis or Gorkhas who want their land and are fighting for their freedom. Originally they , belonging to this land and this land to them, have been through centuries serving as 'chowkidars' for English Sahibs or anglicanised Indians like the judge Jemubhai. They have been taunted to be thieves , their brains thought to be too dull for education, so the best suited job was one which needed physical strength and proved their mountain ruggedness. Every struggle for freedom has its roots in suppression just like our Independence movement. On one hand we believe in the U.N. and its principles and on the other we very easily oppress a particular cast and stamp them with a particular label and go forward with our lives. The Nepali's ,ay be wrong as it has been portrayed but what about heir rights and their share of life which they have been sacrificing for so long , to make way for us. Definitely it gives us some food for thought.
       The novel though rich with details and presenting a picturesque mosaic of life, at times falls prey to monotony and boredom . The darkness and the inner conflict sometimes weigh too much upon the mind and soul. But that?s what a good writer should be capable of and Ms Desai has been very successful in touching and stirring the depths of human emotion and thought. A very contemplative work and a must read for all connoisseurs of literature.

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