A Breath of Fresh Air

June 17, 2002
Though fiction set in India has recently broadened our view of its culture, only Bharati Mukherjee's Desirable Daughters
has addressed the peculiar position of a divorcée—and since Mukherjee's protagonist lives in the U.S., her situation is not the same as the one endured by Malladi's heroine in contemporary India. Anjali's arranged marriage to army officer Prakash Mehra proves to be a disaster: he hits her, lies to her and carries on an adulterous affair. After a tryst with his lover, Prakash neglects to pick up Anjali at the railroad station in Bhopal on the night in 1984 when a cloud of poisonous gas leaks from Union Carbide; Anjali almost dies. Courageously, she decides to divorce Prakash, despite the fierce disapproval of her parents and society. Fifteen years later, Anjali is a teacher in Ooty, contentedly married to a university professor. The Bhopal tragedy continues to affect them, however, since their now 12-year-old son was born with damaged lungs and a weak heart, and every penny they earn goes to his care. When Prakash is stationed near Ooty with his new wife and two healthy children, the two families are bound to meet. In their encounters—narrated by Anjali; her husband, Sandeep; and Prakash—marriage bonds are strained, and soul searching ensues. While debut novelist Malladi deserves credit for illuminating a troubling aspect of Indian culture, the novel founders on the character of Prakash, a man of limited emotional intelligence or generosity, whose epiphanic breakthrough into acknowledging his guilt serves the plot, but fails to make him a credible character. Yet Anjali is an admirable heroine, and women will relate to her heartbreak as the mother of a dying child. Agent, Milly Marmur.