Arranged Marriage by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

After reading The Palace of Illusions last year, I was looking forward to read more of the the author's work. That is why when I spotted this book in the library I picked it up. The Book - Arranged Marriage is a collection of short stories centering around Indian women. In most of the stories the protagonist is a woman with Indian roots, settled in America and the story is about her tumultuous journey of life where she is trying to strike a balance between her deep rooted Indian beliefs and modern American outlook.

The book has a collection of 10 stories, each of the story is different from the other and yet has something in common. Most of them are sad, some disturbing yet profound. These are stories which will leave an indelible mark in your mind and will leave you pondering. I have only one qualm about the book, as to why the author has stressed more on the negatives of Arranged Marriages. Arranged Marriage is a practice prevalent hugely in India. It is often labeled as an orthodox practice and mostly people from the West find it very difficult to understand, as how such a system could work in first place! But, it HAS worked and I have seen living examples of it. So, I do not think it is fair to explore only the grim side of Arranged Marriages.

The author through her stories stresses on the importance of independence in life, of women in particular which I believe is important for every women irrespective of nationality. Even though it is written in Indian context, it stresses on problems which is common to women from all walks of life and so, I think 'Arranged Marriage' doesn't seem to be a very appropriate title.

Having said that, I must admit that I could relate to most stories be it 'The Bats' where the woman despite all odds remains faithful to his wife beater husband or 'The Ultrasound' where the woman is asked to abort her child since she is a baby girl or 'Affair' where a husband leaves her wife for another woman. I personally liked 'Meeting Mrinal' where the woman finally accepts her fate and decides to move on in life. Since the author lives in America, I believe that it must have influenced the author's own perspective and the way has brought out the sentiments of the women in the stories.

These poignant stories did move me and made me contemplate about various things in life which I take for granted, but, for many it is a dream.

Linking it to A2ZChallenge and South Asian Challenge.

Thanks you for stopping by! Cheers

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

My earliest knowledge of the epic ~ Mahabharata comes what I saw on TV as a child. Come Sunday morning and every body in the house would be glued to their television sets watching the epic tale. I was too young to understand it all, the complexity of the plots and characters, the philosophy, the wisdom yet, I was always awe struck by what ever I could grasp and even today, if I think of Mahabharata, glimpses from the TV series comes flashing in my mind.

I am so glad that I could relive that experience in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The Palace of Illusions though not in its entirety or fully, but in a new way, in a new perspective that added a multitude of dimensions to the legendary tale. Divakaruni chooses Draupadi also known as Panchali, to narrate the epic saga and that is the charm of the book. It is in fact a feminist interpretation of Mahabharata. Vibha had recommended me this book when I had set out a list of to read books and I am glad to have picked this up. Thanks a lot Vibha!

The novel traces Panchaali’s life, beginning with her magical birth in fire as the daughter of king Drupad before following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright. As she endures a fierce civil war, domestic power struggles, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, her love for her brother and the perils of attraction to elusive men, who also the most hated enemy of her husbands, Panchaali brings a feminine sensibility to her male-dominated world.


The novel is named after the palace which was built by the asura Maya for the Pandavas and Panchaali . Panchaali loved her palace and was proud of it.  It disintegrated when Duryodhana tried to claim it after the Pandavas had lost it in a game of dice to him. 


Though most of the story narrated comes from the legend tale, Divakaruni adds her imaginations and explores the mind of Panchaali. She gives insights to how she felt when she was born and was prophesied to be one to change the course of history, to bring about the greatest and the bloodiest war of all times. She tells us through this book, how she felt when she was humiliated in the Kaurava court and how the incident filled her heart with revenge and the vow she made at that time lead to the battle that wiped of the whole Kaurava clan and all those who supported them. Panchaali also reflects on her own actions, good or bad and even justifies them. I could sympathize with the character the author had painted of Panchaali and even could relate to her at some points. Divakaruni has very skillfully retold the story from the viewpoint of Panchaali adding her own twists and turns which made it even more enjoyable, refreshing and enlightening read. 


I would recommend it to anyone interested or not interested in Indian mythology. I am sure it will change the way you think about the epic ~Mahabharata.

#11 Teaser Tuesday ~ The Palace of Illusions & Dear John

I have 2 teasers to share today. One is from The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and other one from Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. I have almost finished the first one and have started off with the later.

Here are the teasers:

From "The Palace of Illusions".

"Some people," she continued," thought he was going to die, but I had no such fears. Anyone who wanted revenge as badly as your royal father did wouldn't let go of body and breath so easily."

Page: 3

From "Dear John"

"I need that purse! Its got all my money in there!"

Page: 25

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists!