Deceptive in its simplicity, A River Sutra surpasses one's expectations with its subtle yet profound insights into the workings of the human heart. Exploring the conflict between purity and passion, the material and spiritual, desire and renunciation, Gita Mehta's stories delve into man's yearning for and dependence on love and faith without resorting to preaching.
Set along the banks of India's sacred Narmada River, the novel revolves around the narrator, a former bureaucrat who has chosen to become a vanaprasthi, "one who has retired to the forest to reflect." As the renunciate listens to the parables told him by guests, pilgrims, and fugitives, he becomes immersed in the tragic stories as though swept away by the holy Narmada itself. Six tales are told: a millionaire renounces his wealth to become a monk, a homely daughter finds love and beauty in her father's music, an ascetic rescues a child from a brothel, a tea broker is bewitched by a tribal woman, a poor Sufi musician adopts a blind boy and trains him to be a religious singer, and a courtesan's daughter is abducted by a bandit lover. Each character the narrator meets--whether Hindu, Muslim, or Jain, saint or sinner--reveals a unique aspect of India's soul and participates in the endless quest for enlightenment.
A theme unifying these many-layered stories, commentator Uma Parameswaran points out, is the pupil-teacher relationship. Each sutra, or fable, imparts some essential truth: our bond to the Creator, to music, to the divine, eternal world. Literary scholar and critic Robert Ross comments on Mehta's keen wit, insight, and versatility in bringing ancient and contemporary India to life. Whether commenting on the British Raj or the "invasion" of strung-out hippies, Mehta
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
