Travails and tribulations: a story on the complexities of honour in India

Express News Service

As a journalist, always on the move, Smita Agarwal has her priorities clear. She never wants to visit her homeland India, living out of suitcases with a similar set of wardrobe is gratifying, and her relationships are as good as her last byline. But her best-laid plans take a tumultuous turn as an untoward incident not just makes her land up in India, but also chases her to open the closet of her demons and relive a past that she had buried deep inside.

Thrity Umrigar’s Honor is a deeply engrossing book with a powerful message. The lives of two women–– Smita and Meena––a Hindu woman who follows her heart and marries a Muslim man, who is later killed––as contrasting as they could be, meet at the crossroads of shared grief and there’s no turning back. The book beautifully etches out each of its characters, allowing readers to understand every human emotion. It also reflects deeply on how the choices we do not make may have shaped our lives differently. Even a small character that makes an appearance for a few pages leaves a deep impact.

To find love across cultural divides and the price that has to be paid to follow your heart forms the essence of the novel. It paints a portrait of a complex India, where honour comes at a cost. And who would know the price of honour better than the two protagonists, who teach each other what love and sacrifice are.

Honor is a nuanced work of literary fiction that sheds light on the issues of caste violence, religious complexities, and the horrors of riots. It provides an insight into how the past never fails to leave us and confronting it is the only way to move ahead. Aptly titled, the book shows how honour means different things to different people—a word so deeply rooted in cultural complexities, upbringing and the way lives are led. It’s a book that leaves you asking for more. The reader would like to know what happens to Smita a decade from now. Were her choices justified? How does the life of Abru, Meena’s child, life shape up? Do victims of honour killings and caste violence get justice, ever?

The book made it to ‘Reese’s Book Club Pick’ when it was released in the US earlier this year. Actor Reese Witherspoon commented, “Complex and unfiltered, these are the types of characters that stick with you long after you turn the pages. Powerful about family, devotion and cultural truths, all through the eyes of an incredible journalist.” One can’t agree more as this unforgettable book leaves its readers with a kind of closure that compels one to question the vagaries of life.

<br /> As a journalist, always on the move, Smita Agarwal has her priorities clear. She never wants to visit her homeland India, living out of suitcases with a similar set of wardrobe is gratifying, and her relationships are as good as her last byline. But her best-laid plans take a tumultuous turn as an untoward incident not just makes her land up in India, but also chases her to open the closet of her demons and relive a past that she had buried deep inside.</p> <p>Thrity Umrigar’s Honor is a deeply engrossing book with a powerful message. The lives of two women–– Smita and Meena––a Hindu woman who follows her heart and marries a Muslim man, who is later killed––as contrasting as they could be, meet at the crossroads of shared grief and there’s no turning back. The book beautifully etches out each of its characters, allowing readers to understand every human emotion. It also reflects deeply on how the choices we do not make may have shaped our lives differently. Even a small character that makes an appearance for a few pages leaves a deep impact.</p> <p>To find love across cultural divides and the price that has to be paid to follow your heart forms the essence of the novel. It paints a portrait of a complex India, where honour comes at a cost. And who would know the price of honour better than the two protagonists, who teach each other what love and sacrifice are.</p> <p>Honor is a nuanced work of literary fiction that sheds light on the issues of caste violence, religious complexities, and the horrors of riots. It provides an insight into how the past never fails to leave us and confronting it is the only way to move ahead. Aptly titled, the book shows how honour means different things to different people—a word so deeply rooted in cultural complexities, upbringing and the way lives are led. It’s a book that leaves you asking for more. The reader would like to know what happens to Smita a decade from now. Were her choices justified? How does the life of Abru, Meena’s child, life shape up? Do victims of honour killings and caste violence get justice, ever?</p> <p>The book made it to ‘Reese’s Book Club Pick’ when it was released in the US earlier this year. Actor Reese Witherspoon commented, “Complex and unfiltered, these are the types of characters that stick with you long after you turn the pages. Powerful about family, devotion and cultural truths, all through the eyes of an incredible journalist.” One can’t agree more as this unforgettable book leaves its readers with a kind of closure that compels one to question the vagaries of life.<br />