Rupa Bajwa

Ramchand is a young man working as a shop assistant in a sari shop in Amritsar, India. Prior to the loss of his parents, Ramchand haboured bigger dreams for himself. However, seven years of rolling and unrolling silk and cotton saris for the " status woman" of Amristar, he is relatively content with his mundane existence.

As time goes on, Ramchand is sent on two errands that stand in stark contrast to one another , and shake him out of his narrow life view. One errand is to a wealthy household in which the educated and beautiful bride- to- be and her family are choosing opulent saris for the occasion. Ramchand's hope for a better life is re-ignited, and he begins to better himself. The second errand is to check on fellow shop assistant. Here he is exposed to the filthy squalor of the slums , where men are commonly drunk and routinely beat their wives.

This is a devastating look at class division in India. It is a powerful narrative, told in a quiet, unassuming manner.

Long -listed for the 2004 Orange Prize, this is among the most memorable and heartbreaking books that I have read in 2016.

Highly recommended

4.5 stars… (meer)

The element of this book that makes me want to recommend it is the quiet description of Ramchand's co-worker's wife and her life. I am making books by and about women a priority. Enough so that I almost didn't read this one. But, indeed, it is about a woman. Her tale is told within the story of Ramchand so it could be easily missed. The author tells of the woman moving away from her family and community to be with the man she was arranged to marry. The woman's life is described oh so nonchalantly but is a key element in the resolution of the story.
The description of the woman's life, I have no doubt, is universal but in this case is told within the social structure of India. The life is told from her innocent beginnings to being a woman shunned because of her public display of drunkenness and to its ultimate end.
The subtleness which this life is described reflects its hiddeness in our lives, no matter what society it happens in.… (meer)