Namesake

I was skimming through the gigantic holding racks of the library, wherein the obesely beaming books almost looked like falling off the shelf. Looking at the various titles makes you think of a trait which atleast the quarter percent of the population seem to share-creativity and imagination. Suddenly the yellow paperbacked book looked prominent. Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I was extremely pleased with myself for having encountered the book which I was searching from quite a long time. The feeling of having a book which you always wanted to read, creates a strange sense of fulfillment .

Having heard a lot about the movie and reading the reviews on the last page of the book set me into a fast pace, notwithstanding the curiosity. The storyline is elementary. An Indian family making their life in a foreign ground. The characters begin to appear effortlessly. The author describes each of them so well that you feel like going through it, all by yourself. The settings beautifully explained to the tiniest detail without making it sound boring. She does not set rules, nor make claims. I had not given much of a thought about what a ‘name’ can stand for. Ofcourse, its our very identity. It takes a hilarious turn when , just a simple act of naming a child is portrayed as a levelheaded deed. Imagine having a name ’gogol’. The throes of having such a name is captured without an excuse. The origin of his name, his misgivings and the final justification comes out clearly. One should write a book as ‘what not to name a baby’! There is no sad hint. The trick is simple! A story told with all its beauty. Pristine as it is, she brings out the fact that conformity to a culture is by no means a pretence. The nuances of the ideological differences make you think a bit. In short, a story I loved for its sheer simplicity and description, not forgetting the thoughts that it will arouse to occupy the mind.