Snapshots

It comes as no surprise, then, if Jewishness vs Indianness appears to be the predominant theme of this book. That is what one might expect from the first Indian Jewish novel. Even the blurb at the back announces that "the novel unravels the narrator's struggle to reconcile her Jewishness with the exuberance of the alien ethos in which she grows up". The front cover, likewise, has a tantric diagram with two interlocking triangles which look just like the Jewish Star of David. In fact, the author, in the course of the story, speculates whether the Jews got the symbol of their faith from India.

After all this, one would expect a clear-or should I say satisfactory-resolution to the Jewish vs Indian question. Unfortunately, the novel doesn't offer this. What constitutes Jewishness is never clearly specified. In fact, it is only a careful reading which reveals that the real issue is not of the clash between two religions or cultures, but a quest for identity.

Indeed, my real complaint against this book is that it has no plot. there is no well-defined conflict. Episodes follow one another in a more or less chronological order. There is no build-up to a climax. The death of grandparents, the departure of servants, the eccentricities of relatives, the shifting of houses, and an occasional, dreadful family secret--these make up the sum and substance of the book. In that sense, this is hardly a novel, but a family photo album.