Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni - Lucid and Vivid Storytelling, Memorable Characters
An expatriate Indian writer, writing in English, tends to fall into the stereotype of diaspora story telling. Typical themes of diaspora writing are conflicting world views of Gen X and Y expats, settlement and adjustment issues, dealing with culture shocks, dealing with discrimination and racism, etc.
Very rarely do you find an author who brilliantly merges the worlds of traditional wisdom with an incisive view of the western way of thinking. So vivid are her characters, ranging from the rural Indian grandmother to the ultra modern disillusioned gen Y, from the academic in a state-of-the-art US university to the clerk in a modest sweet shop, from a wannabe beautician to a business magnate struggling with emotional issues, that one wonders where she gets her material from?
Some extraordinary stories abound in "One Amazing Thing", "Arranged Marriage and other Short Stories", "Queen of Dreams", "Before We Visit the Goddess", "Mistress of Spices" and many other gems from her collections. She has also written mythology based fiction, drawn from the Mahabharata, and Indian folklore, but her forte remains strong emotion-based, dramatic, heart-warming short stories. Set either in multi-cultural, cosmopolitan US, or in the backyard of Indian cities and towns, she can make any place familiar and real to the reader. And her protagonists remain etched in our minds long after the book is over.
She made me rediscover my love for reading and writing. When I feel low or disturbed, I think of her characters and how they deal with various adversities. As an author, she has slowly become a personal favourite.
Keep writing, Ma'am. Looking forward to many more touching stories from you!
Very rarely do you find an author who brilliantly merges the worlds of traditional wisdom with an incisive view of the western way of thinking. So vivid are her characters, ranging from the rural Indian grandmother to the ultra modern disillusioned gen Y, from the academic in a state-of-the-art US university to the clerk in a modest sweet shop, from a wannabe beautician to a business magnate struggling with emotional issues, that one wonders where she gets her material from?
Some extraordinary stories abound in "One Amazing Thing", "Arranged Marriage and other Short Stories", "Queen of Dreams", "Before We Visit the Goddess", "Mistress of Spices" and many other gems from her collections. She has also written mythology based fiction, drawn from the Mahabharata, and Indian folklore, but her forte remains strong emotion-based, dramatic, heart-warming short stories. Set either in multi-cultural, cosmopolitan US, or in the backyard of Indian cities and towns, she can make any place familiar and real to the reader. And her protagonists remain etched in our minds long after the book is over.
She made me rediscover my love for reading and writing. When I feel low or disturbed, I think of her characters and how they deal with various adversities. As an author, she has slowly become a personal favourite.
Keep writing, Ma'am. Looking forward to many more touching stories from you!
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