Jaipur Journals by Namita Gokhale

‘One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman,’ says Anirban M, a successful author of graphic novels, while he is selecting brilliantly coloured saris for himself and a friend to wear. The friend neither agrees nor disagrees with this statement. She simply replies, ‘Too much information,’ and allows the rest of Anirban’s lecture to go over her head. I suggest this is the best way to read Jaipur Journals. Luxuriate in the vivid colours, the exotic locations and the entertaining personalities. As for the history and philosophy, you can just go with the flow.

Although the novel starts from the point of view of a schoolgirl who is at the beginning of her writing career, and returns to her towards the end, the central character is Rudrani Rana, an unpublished writer in her seventies. With its emphasis on memories, encounters with long-lost lovers and the lasting influence of family, Jaipur Journals will probably be most appreciated by the middle-aged and elderly. However, Namita Gokhale’s writing is full of dry wit, and the book contains enough literary gossip, scandal and opportunistic crime to keep all her readers amused.

‘Told from multiple perspectives, from the authors enjoying moments of adulation after years of creative isolation, to the star-struck public mingling with their cultural icons, to those in-between, who are both author and fan, these diverse stories of lost love and regret, self-doubt, and new beginnings come together in a narrative that is as varied as India itself. From a septuagenarian who has completed her semi-biographical novel but does not want to part with it, to an author who receives a threat in the form of a poison pen letter; from a historian who reunites with a past lover, to a burglar who is passionate about poetry; from a young woman who has no idea what this world has in store for her, to an American woman looking for the India of her hippie youth, this metafictional, wryly funny novel is an ode to literature.’

Now that I have read Jaipur Journals, going to the Jaipur Literary Festival is on my personal wish list. Namita Gokhale, who is an excellent and highly successful Indian writer and publisher, is the Festival’s co-founder and director, so she must know the scene there inside out. I expect the Indian literary scene is in a frenzy, while regular attendees of the Festival try to figure out who was the inspiration for each character. I hope Rudrani Rana, who in my opinion came across as rather spiteful, is purely imaginary.