For many women, not only in India but even abroad, wedding bells sound the death knell of a career or education. The compromises and complexities of married life take centrestage in their lives and they end up becoming shadows of their husbands and later on children.
Sudha Murty?s Gently Falls the Bakula is the story of one such woman ? Shrimati, who marries her childhood sweetheart and classmate Shrikant despite family opposition. And the witness to their love and commitment was the bakula tree between their houses where they met every morning. Shrimati, who was ?brighter? than her husband, decides to give up her studies, and aspirations, to allow Shrikant to pursue his own.
The marriage works, Shrikant does well in his job in a software company, and is in fact the most successful of his IIT Bombay batch, but somewhere along the way his ambitions begin to take a toll on their life. ?Not for a day have I put my personal needs or happiness before the company?s,? Shrikant?s dedication to his career becomes quite clear in this one statement.
Shrimati, who?s issueless and without any support from her in-laws, begins to get increasingly frustrated with her life. Her decision to change the course of her life by regaining her identity forms the rest of the novel.
This is Murty?s first novel and although written nearly three decades ago, it still remains as relevant and ends up striking a chord with the reader, perhaps a reason for it to be reissued.
So far, so good. The problem however lies in the way the book has been written. Murty?s style of writing is often cramped and awkward(compare it to her 2007 novel, Dollar Bahu, which too has a housewife as its protagonist). The book, written in Kannada and set in the 1980s, also ends up outdated. The characters are well imagined ? but not developed enough to get reader empathy. ?She felt that her life was full of darkness now,? is how Shrimati?s emotions are summed up when she realises she may never have a child.
The lack of descriptions also adds to this problem. One ends up feeling that the author could also have used the setting of her story, North Karnataka and later Bombay, to her advantage by more vivid portrayals of these places. The description of Hubli and historical sites like Badami do not do justice. Ironically it is these places that one expects Murty to depict vibrantly, considering she comes from the state they fall under.
Shrimati?s interest in history could also have been depicted through better imagery, rather than by her talks of erstwhile rulers and dates. Murty has instead chosen to describe in length events which do not seem to merit it. For example, there?s a lengthy depiction of an official dinner hosted by Shrikant for his Americans clients which could have been edited out. Pick it for the charm of the story. For it still holds true, across societies.