Author: Aparna Salvi Nagda
Silence is Golden is an age-old adage. What does silence entail? Is it abstinence from speech… literally? Or is it refusing to speak up for what is right? or Just refusing to speak out one’s mind? Whatever it is, the end product of all the above is disharmony… between individuals and self as well…
In the bylanes of Tilakwadi, Belgaum the ‘aristocratic’ Kulkarni family lived in their abode that shielded not just their bodies but tonnes of secrets, the blend of personalities weaving a tapestry heavy, yet gossamary. Kusum, the matriarch was a firm believer in roles that women were born to play and the family name that couldn’t be tarnished under any circumstances. Her veiled silence over the abuse meted out to her son, Girish by her husband resulted in Girish silencing himself figuratively. She had to suffer through the procedure called “Niyog” to conceive her son and yet she didn’t refrain from subjecting her daughter-in-law, Narmada to the same horror… Narmada however couldn’t take it and gave up on the sham of her marital life.
The story belongs to the protagonist, Mukta, who was shortchanged in every way including her name and was called ‘Muki’. She was mute… literally. The daughter of a merge servant in the Kulkarni household she revered her Girish dada and loved him throughout… she didn’t expect anything from anyone. She just loved Girish and by default loved Narmada and later Narmada’s daughter, Kashi. She stepped into the role of Kashi’s mother after Narmada passed and into the shoes of a dutiful wife for Girish Dada…
Kashi grew up in an unnatural environment under the glare of shredded personalities adorning the mansion. Yet she turned into a lovely young adult and eventually set on a journey of self-discovery and truth.
The author has intricately woven the fabrics of all the characters and the reader is in for a paradox where you want to dislike a character but can’t help but relate to them. the descriptions are vivid and each scene is brought alive with the author’s poetic display of literary fiction. One does find traces of Paul Coelho in some places.
This book is not to be read… its to be savoured!
