Anita Desai's novel FASTING FEASTING, as it is implied in the title itself, is a novel of the contrast between two cultures, the one, India, known for its outstanding customs representing 'FASTING' and in the other hand America a country of wealth and expensive epitomizing feasting.
Personally I like its themes as well as style and imagery in fasting feasting.Desai continuously use the metaphor of food for emotional substance. every thing centers around food.
The core characters comprise a family living in a small town in India where provincial customs and attitudes dictate the future of all children- girls are to be married off and boys are to be come educated as possible. the story focusses on the life unmarried woman and main character Uma, the family's older daughter, with Arun the boy and the baby of the family. Uma spends her life in subservience to her older demanding parents. while massive effort and energy is expanded to ensure Arun's education and placement in a University in Massachusetts. The younger daughter of the family Aruna gets married meanwhile, in the part2 we are introduced to Arun in America.
The novel is in two parts the first part is set in India and this focused on the life of Uma.who is the overworked daughter of Mama Papa. She is used by them in every way of preparing food, running errands. In the early part of the novel we see her struggling at school. she is not very bright but loves the sisters who teach and appreciate her. Finally she is made to leave school and serve her parents.
We meet many interesting character through her Ram Bhai one who tries to show Uma a good time but he is vanished by her parents.Another character is the religious Mira masi who tells Uma all the Tales of Krishna and takes her to the Ashram allowing her to escape her Mothers domination for a time, Uma's parents attempts to marry her off on two occasions on the first occasion the chosen man fell for Uma's younger sister Aruna. On the second occasion a marriage take place but it turns out that Uma's new husband already has a wife. as soon as Uma's father heard about that her father quickly takes her home.
We are also told of the episode of Anamika's sad fate(Uma's cousin). She has won a scholarship to Oxford but her parents insist that she should get married. she does and fail to please her husband by providing him with children. He keeps her for a time as a servant but eventually she dies by burning. It is strongly hinted that her in-laws killed her. the final scene of the part1 is the conversion of Anamika;s ashes in the sacred river, here we are left with great sympathy for Uma and her simple kindness as she survives as best she can in an unfriendly world.
In part2, we meet Arun Uma's privileged brother. He is attending college in America and during summer holidays he lives with old American Patton's family. the events are told in a serial manner as Arun encounter them. Arun dislike American food and cooking methods. he is disappointed at the behavior of Melanie, the daughter who is deeply troubled and suffering from bulimia. Although Mrs.Patton seems top care about Melanie, it does not help much. while apparently the two families are actually distant from one another, something very different from Aruns experience of family like in India. Arun spends most of his time alone and isolated.
Fasting Feasting is speedy, intense narrative. there are many unheralded transitions from scene to scene, and flashback is used to excellent effect. Threads of the story are left unfinished only to be taken up again later in the novel and given a deeper significant. It might be easy to dismiss Uma's world as oppressive to woman and decided that life could not be a fulfilled experience in such adverse circumstances. Uma's life taken as a tragic-injustice that she is used and misused by a patriarchal family and society.
Two cultures are explored in this novel the Indian and the American. In both cultures males are portrait as dominant with Arun being given tutors while Uma is taken out of school. Indian society is portrait as patriarchal. The author of the novel justified with the themes what she intended to express through this novel is well organized and well maintain. It shows our early Indian society even now a days still its happening in many families. I will highly recommend you to read this book, this is extremely one of the finest novel of modern times. I give 4 rating out of 5 for its themes, style and thought provoking message towards society.
