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Book title: House of the Blue Mangoes
Author: David Davidar
The House of Blue Mangoes is an artfully crafted story that meanders through the socially and politically turbulent times that South India witnessed in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although a long read that sometimes drags the reader into the monotonousness of the rustic daily chores of a south Indian joint family, Davidar's work is meticulously rich in details and takes the reader on a tour along the countryside of Chevathar, and the beautiful green valleys of Pulimed. Davidar deserves as much credit for a plot that has done enough justice in not mentioning any real caste names that would have stirred up controversies, as he does for creating fictitious but beautiful places such as the fervid village of Chevathar, the magnificent settlement of Doraipuram, and the beautiful valleys and bungalows of Pulimed.
It is in a beautiful way that the author describes the strife that every protagaonist of the story, especially the proud members of the Dorai family - Solomon, Aaron, Daniel and Kannan, experience between their ideologies and their love for their family. Equally appreciable is the author's attempt to bring out the feelings of the better halves in the story, the women who ran houses and maintained peace and harmony in the family. As the story shifts from Chevathar and Nagercoil to Pulimed, where the British planters of the tea estates were lords, things change and the royal life of the British starkly contrasts the simple life of the poor natives. The effect of the nationalist movement or rather the freedom struggle on the lives of the British and the natives, especially in the times of the first and second world war, has been excellently portrayed.
And the story, when it ends, gives the reader a feeling which should be equivalent to that which he gets after eating the Blue Mango, the tastiest mango in the country. It reminds one to cherish the good times he has had in his life, and moreover makes him contemplate over the things he lost, the things which he possess and the things which he might lose or gain in the future. It gives the reader a retrospective of his life, and makes him ponder about the relevance of his social existence and the commitments to his family.
It is in a beautiful way that the author describes the strife that every protagaonist of the story, especially the proud members of the Dorai family - Solomon, Aaron, Daniel and Kannan, experience between their ideologies and their love for their family. Equally appreciable is the author's attempt to bring out the feelings of the better halves in the story, the women who ran houses and maintained peace and harmony in the family. As the story shifts from Chevathar and Nagercoil to Pulimed, where the British planters of the tea estates were lords, things change and the royal life of the British starkly contrasts the simple life of the poor natives. The effect of the nationalist movement or rather the freedom struggle on the lives of the British and the natives, especially in the times of the first and second world war, has been excellently portrayed.
And the story, when it ends, gives the reader a feeling which should be equivalent to that which he gets after eating the Blue Mango, the tastiest mango in the country. It reminds one to cherish the good times he has had in his life, and moreover makes him contemplate over the things he lost, the things which he possess and the things which he might lose or gain in the future. It gives the reader a retrospective of his life, and makes him ponder about the relevance of his social existence and the commitments to his family.
