Of buildings, food and cultural nuances; Two Books set in India

In January, I read two amazing books. Both revolve around buildings, coincidentally. Esther David’s Bombay Brides is the story of different households (and sometimes the friends of the houses) in a housing society. Amrita Mahale’s debut novel, Milk Teeth starts off with a society meeting between the residents of a dilapidated building to decide about their future. It is quite rare when books capture the ultimate essence of the community that the story is based on. So these two were definitely a treat.

Unlike what the title suggests, Bombay Brides is set in the Shalom Housing society in Ahmedabad, Gujrat. It is largely a collection of stories, told by women, where a character in one makes an appearance in a bigger role in another. The title comes from the reason that many women from Mumbai (Bombay) came to Ahmedabad by marriage and they were called the ‘Bombay Brides’. The style of stories of different residents contributing to the bigger narrative reminded me of Elif Shafaks’s The Flea Palace, about the tenants of Bonbon Palace, a once stately apartment which is now a flea infested complex in pitiable state.

The cultural nuances of Indian Jews woven into the novel makes Bombay Brides a compelling read. There is a chant about the barter of goats sung during Passover, women who know Biblical kirtans in Marathi, offering of flowers on graves unlike Israeli Jews who place pebbles, Yom Kippur celebrations and bar mitzvahs. There is ample food in the form of dates sheera, Matzo bread bhakhris, sweetened poha, chicken biriyani, Alphonso mangoes, mutton curry in red masala and lots of ice cream. Each chapter had so many varieties of food, though not in a highly descriptive fashion, and by the end of the book, I really wanted more.

The cast of Bombay Brides is quite eclectic – a volunteer who comes for Torah studies and disappears like Prophet Elijah, a Romeo-Juliet-ish love story (Rahul who becomes Romiel and Juliet here), a woman who interprets dreams, a widow who meets a Casanova, match making aunties and a Bollywood crazy Israeli woman. There were women who longed to work, a dark skinned woman who are insecure since the groom does not answer whether he likes her skin colour (reminded me of Katherine Mansfield’s A cup of Tea where the spoilt wife asks whether she is pretty) and a woman with facial hair. The stories revolve around relationships, roots, heritage, the idea of home and are a wonderful testament to the daily lives of Bene Israel Jews of western India. Prophet Elijah makes frequent appearances, sometimes as a saint to whom prayers are offered and sometimes steering the story away from an imminent incident, thus making some stories a bit magical. The book also has illustrations drawn by the author herself. Each chapter was an invite into the lives of women, told through simple lunches of chappati and dal or elaborate dishes of pilaf and ice cream. It was glorious that I felt they all lived in a building next door.

Amrita Mahale’s Milk Teeth was a wonderful read if you are looking for a book set in Mumbai. It is a slow read prying into the lives of Ira Kamat and Kartik Kini; and also the mysterious Kaiz. The book is largely set in Matunga, one of my favourite places to eat, but distributes itself into different part of the 1990s Mumbai. Talking about food, Milk Teeth offers quite a varied platter from Udupi dosas to kebabs to roadside chai breaks.

Mahale’s attention to detail is astounding. Her mention of the spike on the counter of restaurants through which bills and receipts are pierced, sawdust and whitewash on Kartik’s palm when he leans against a wall which makes him swear and then wipe on his jeans, lace doily on the television set, and Geetmala on Radio Ceylon are a few examples.  She effortlessly melts the casteist remarks – “ He has light eyes no? No? Hmm, most CKPs have them, not all. They have very bossy women, beautiful but bossy. And even though they go by Prabhu, they are not brahmins” into the main narrative. I am impressed by her ability to show more than tell. It is these subtle details that elevate Milk Teeth to a higher level than many other contemporary Indian fiction releases. Mahale delicately balances the animosity of the largely Hindu community in Mumbai towards Muslims and the consequences that befall either party with the changing face of the city bitten by urbanization.

On a broader note, Milk Teeth is not a simple love story or a friendship story, it feels like ‘the sum total of middle class aspirations’ as Kaiz once describes the streets of Mumbai. It digs into the ridges of arranged marriage, nostalgia, real estate problems in Mumbai and the dichotomy of a single building vs the picture of a city as an amalgamation of the buildings and communities. On one hand it invites the reader to the absolute freedom of a life in Mumbai and on the other hand points towards the claustrophobic society where unmarried women, queer men and those of minority religions feel a less at ‘home’. What I loved most about the novel were the walks through South Bombay, that reminded me of my own weekends roaming around the place. It made me crave bun muska, Irani chai and filter coffee and the breeze on the sidewalks of Churchgate.

Rating:

Bombay Brides by Esther David : 4.5/5

Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale : 4/5

Disclaimer : Much thanks to the Harper Collins (Bombay Brides) and  Westland (Milk Teeth) for sending me the books. All opinions are my own.