Thousand faces of night by Geetha Hariharan

"Thousand faces of night" by Geetha Hariharan. This book is published by Penguin books in 1992 and has 139 pages.  This book won 1993 Commonwealth writers prize for best first book. It was given to me by my father.

Devi comes from an orthodox Tamil family. While studying in USA she befriends Dan, a fellow black student. Though it's more than just friendship, Devi does not accept his marriage proposal, returns to India and arranged marries Mahesh.

The book is a portrait of Devi, her mother Sita and housekeeper of her husband's house Mayamma. All three ladies had potential but were suppressed in one way or other after marriage.

Devi is influenced by her grandmother. She does not really know what she wants in life. Doesn't know what will bring her joy and in her pursuit of it makes one wrong decision after another. It's incomprehensible why she becomes a meek housewife from a foreign educated independent youngster. Does she get what she wants eventually?

Sita is passionate about everything. She longs for perfection in everything. Order is second nature to her. She shapes career of her husband and childhood of her daughter (Devi) impeccably. Does she get what she wants eventually?

Mayamma has an happy marriage with abusive husband and mother in law who ill treats her. She sees everything that happens in master's house. She watches occupants and their problems and watches the events unfold while doing her daily chores mechanically and remembering the past. Does she get what she wants eventually?

Devi is continuously on the run. First from America, then from Dan, then from her mother, then from her house, then from her husband and then from Gopal in search of something that she does not know. It's a search for something that she wants to do. She has to confront her own problems and demons, make her own choices, only then her wandering will come to an end.

Writing style of this book is very different. Author has not tried to bring order to the narrative. It's loosely knit and appears like 'order in chaos'. She is not bothered about going back and forth in time, leaving the subject and jumping to another, leaving the scene unconcluded, mixing fact with stories, at times telling two unrelated things together etc. Thus the writing resembles the working of mind, here one moment and there the other. At times it even borders on drivel. It's a mix of first person & third person narrative.

It's a bold writing style. Writing your first book in this fashion takes guts and she has received the prize for it. It was good to read this very different book.

It's different. Read it for a change.