Where Words Are Not Ordinary

“We wanted our story to be simple. ” Sunny to Sonia

I finally finished reading the novel, The Loneliness of Sonia &Sunny.” It’s undoubtedly an extensive book, with myriad emotions and histories running through each chapter.  Part II of the review covers the story running from Chapter 36 onwards. It seems Ms. Desai has tried to cover every aspect of the lives of the leading protagonists, Sonia and Sunny. The details of these young characters, who settled in America to discover their roots, include their sense of disconnection from shifting identities, overcoming their fears (psychological, social, economic, and political), trying to fulfill their callings despite all odds, finding their true love, and understanding the concept of home. Ms. Desai uncovers each layer of her characters by covering their journey of self-discovery from Delhi (India), Goa (India), Italy, to Mexico. Set in the background of the twin tower attack in New York and the Godhra riots in India, she highlights the class divide considerably practiced in the upper-middle-class and rich class of Indian society. She seamlessly integrates the daily grind and struggles of workers from upper-class families living in Delhi’s bungalows. Their confinement in suffocating and illegally constructed rooms by the owners, irrespective of the oppressive heat of Delhi, is not a hidden truth. These ugly-looking rooms, hidden from the authorities’ view, lack many basic facilities. Whether it’s Vini-Puni, the sisters who work almost for free for Sunny’s mother, Khansama, the cook who worked for Sonia’s paternal family in Allahabad, or other characters who emerge as the story shifts in time and place, their stories and struggles take equal space in the novel.

Western Psychology is no match for an Indian Family. We are too slippery, we change shape, we don’t distinguish truthfrom lies. Lies are truths and truths are lies—you can’t pin us down.

Ravi

Her vivid descriptions of a cacophony of loud noises and altercations in the Indian homes in Delhi and Allahabad, and of servants eavesdropping, are realistic and relatable to readers. The novel is interspersed with amusing and lifelike anecdotes about daily commotion, including arguments between the protagonists and their parents, who, despite all efforts, are unable to understand each other because of their differing visions. While the leading characters navigate toward their dreams by discreetly trying to overcome their fears of the future and endure the pain inflicted by past relationships and rejections, the story also offers other characters the opportunity to open up and share their own fears. We get to know how the sensitive side of parents—whether it’s Sunny’s unhinged mother or Sonia’s grieving father—nursing their broken hearts after losing their partners in different circumstances. Their longing for their partners and the weakening of their spirits from past heartbreak are beautifully described in the book. On the one hand, we see Sunny’s histrionic mother constantly trying to overcome her fears by excessively interfering in his life; on the other, we see Sonia’s lovelorn father transforming into a sick person. These are some of the poetic, heart-touching moments captured by the author that can make readers teary-eyed. It seems the novel is a journey—a journey towards peace, forgiveness, acceptance, renunciation, maturity, experiential bliss, friendship, intimacy, etc.

I must admit that I became disenchanted with the book in the initial chapters due to the stereotypical description of Indian marriages and the media. Probably, I, as a reader, have never watched news channels or read newspapers that report brainless, imbecilic information. The depiction of the chaos of Indian marriages is true, including the commotion and disorganization that can occur despite all planning and efforts. In all likelihood, I believe as an Indian, I was not ready to accept how the author has painted the picture of India and its people, which looked no different from the deliberate damage done by the West. I jumped to conclusions too early and derided this novel as another mouthpiece of the West. However, the later chapters proved to be a page-turner, with the author depicting a range of enchanting emotions. The later chapters offer a mix of realistic and metaphorical descriptions, including pollution in Delhi, the menace of plastic waste in tourist areas of Goa, the repercussions of the twin tower attacks, the Godhra riots, etc.

Along with the search for their identity and true love by Sonia and Sunny, the story beautifully unfolds the psychological impact of living with a controlling significant other. It delves into the minds of lovers like Sonia and Ilan, an acclaimed and eccentric artist, who impairs Sonia’s ability to think clearly and harms her self-respect, leaving her unable to live without fear. Sonia, hounded by her past, several times comes close to death, or undetakes project leading to some unforgettable incidents like assault by a local driver when she was writing on the Rajasthani forts turned into hotels.  She finds solace in the arms of the ocean while swimming and, eventually, in getting closer to Sunny and her father, whose words, “Sonu, never look back, move on,” kept her strong even after his death.

Sonia is like any one of us, struggling—struggling in relationships, struggling with emotions, struggling in mind, ultimately lonely, but eventually finds affection and love.  We must also talk about Sonia’s mother, but how must I describe her? Let’s see, she exists in every woman, women who are exhausted by the weight of responsibilities, compromises made for raising a family, pain endured for everyone. She decides to separate from Sonia’s father and spends her remaining years in her paternal home to heal her tired heart and mind. Her yearning for the past and her willingness to live a solitary life can resonate with many readers. Similarly, I, as a reader, was left Misty-eyed by the delightful and enchanting encounters of Sonia with the ocean, where she was the happiest and felt unburdened. We can’t help getting choked up when she says to the spirit of her dead father, “Papa, the sea calms me. It is the only thing large enough to soothe my sadness.”

She puts the ocean between herself and her life. She tried to give her human self to the ocean. She swam and cried a little at the same time, dropping tears into the water, which mulled them as they fell, lesser saltwater into the greater. For a little while after her swim, before her human self claimed her again, she felt unburdened. — Sonia

The novel is a celebration of life, as and when it comes. It is a search for meaning in life. It is a search for freedom from hounding eyes that inflict damage on our minds. The metaphysical description of Ilan’s disappearance in Mexico and, thereby, the expulsion of his control over Sonia is too profound, touching the depths of the soul. Some of the latter chapters are replete with a forest of thoughts and a labyrinth of ideas, mirroring the human mindscape and its surrealist experiences. Sunny, another protagonist, offers insights into the experiences of Brown men in foreign lands, friendship, and the implications of different emotions, discovering life in different places, and how far a person can go to resurrect the old spirit of his love.

He was a brown man who might have been of several nationalities, or in between nationalities, or no nationality. An anonymous brown man of no importance. He looked like a stick insect, as Satya had observed, but he also had the somposure of a stick insect, nothing would rush him or rattle him.

Sunny