<p>In Black Light, her third novel, Rimi B. Chatterjee brings to the fore the secret lives that many women in India live. Typecast as wives and mothers, many a woman struggles with the woman she is to the world and the woman she could be, given a chance.<br /><br /> As a strapping follow up to both the science fiction novel Signal Red and the historical romance City of Love, comes this compelling piece of mystery; an unlikely mystery about the stifling of talent and its thrilling escape form the crust of this tale.<br /><br />In 272 pages, Rimi recreates for us the ‘lives’ and times of Medhasri Sen who in death has left her nephew — ‘ace-reporter-that-was’ Satya — a trail of clues leading to her secret life. Abandoned by her husband for her unpredictable behaviour, she has always been a burden and embarrassment to her family. <br /><br />Satya, who traded his reporter life to lead an undemanding life behind the newsdesk as an editor, is shocked out of his complacency when his mother’s sister, Medha mashi, commits suicide. Like all ‘respectable’ families, Satya’s family hushes up the suicide slant so as to save the reputation of the family. The plot thickens when a letter addressed to Satya written by Medha mashi is found. <br /><br />This letter takes Satya to BNR hotel in Puri which in turn sends him on a tryst with the spiralling madness of unravelling a secret life.<br /><br />While she finds solace in death, Medha leaves behind the legacy of Medha the artist who no one in her familial circle knew existed. Once on the trail, Satya is led to strange places and ingenious artwork which changes his perception of his dead aunt while also making him realise how close he is to instability in his life. <br /><br />Troubled about the course his life is taking, Satya accepts the challenge to go as far as it takes to uncover the legacy of his dead aunt. Along the way Satya realises how similar they are in their discontent with the world and how close he is to giving up his life.<br /><br />The Medha mystery is evenly interspersed with five stories from history that hold particular significance in the scheme of the plot. Covered in the chapters The Tiger and the Snake, Kalinga, The Refuge and The Heart’s Solace, these chapters talk about the British Raj, the beginning of Buddhism, the beginning of Islam, the history of Jharkhand and trade of spices. They seem to me to be an extension of the emotions that run through the length of the book. <br /><br />Characterisation is one department that probably lags behind. Though Potla is a character who appears half way through the book, in Chapter Six The Cloud of Mercy to be exact, he is a flat character that hangs around on the sidelines till the end just enough to romance Billy. He could have been better fleshed out to juxtapose the varied dimensions of the dead artist as opposed to the living one. <br /><br />Use of both imagery and language is seamless in this story. Neither stands out like a sore thumb nor do they absorb all the limelight. They prop up the story with dexterity and move the narrative forward as expected of them.<br /><br />Black Light cleverly dramatises the oxymoron in the lives of those whose talent has been smothered. As the society looks on unseeing, most of these smothered talents die a stunted and anonymous death. While the book sends out a message to all the Medhas out there to follow their hearts, the art exhibition is a highly literal representation of the indifference of the society towards anything unfamiliar or different. <br /><br />However, the book does end on a hopeful note where amends have been made and life-changes affected to align themselves with their truer selves.</p>
<p>In Black Light, her third novel, Rimi B. Chatterjee brings to the fore the secret lives that many women in India live. Typecast as wives and mothers, many a woman struggles with the woman she is to the world and the woman she could be, given a chance.<br /><br /> As a strapping follow up to both the science fiction novel Signal Red and the historical romance City of Love, comes this compelling piece of mystery; an unlikely mystery about the stifling of talent and its thrilling escape form the crust of this tale.<br /><br />In 272 pages, Rimi recreates for us the ‘lives’ and times of Medhasri Sen who in death has left her nephew — ‘ace-reporter-that-was’ Satya — a trail of clues leading to her secret life. Abandoned by her husband for her unpredictable behaviour, she has always been a burden and embarrassment to her family. <br /><br />Satya, who traded his reporter life to lead an undemanding life behind the newsdesk as an editor, is shocked out of his complacency when his mother’s sister, Medha mashi, commits suicide. Like all ‘respectable’ families, Satya’s family hushes up the suicide slant so as to save the reputation of the family. The plot thickens when a letter addressed to Satya written by Medha mashi is found. <br /><br />This letter takes Satya to BNR hotel in Puri which in turn sends him on a tryst with the spiralling madness of unravelling a secret life.<br /><br />While she finds solace in death, Medha leaves behind the legacy of Medha the artist who no one in her familial circle knew existed. Once on the trail, Satya is led to strange places and ingenious artwork which changes his perception of his dead aunt while also making him realise how close he is to instability in his life. <br /><br />Troubled about the course his life is taking, Satya accepts the challenge to go as far as it takes to uncover the legacy of his dead aunt. Along the way Satya realises how similar they are in their discontent with the world and how close he is to giving up his life.<br /><br />The Medha mystery is evenly interspersed with five stories from history that hold particular significance in the scheme of the plot. Covered in the chapters The Tiger and the Snake, Kalinga, The Refuge and The Heart’s Solace, these chapters talk about the British Raj, the beginning of Buddhism, the beginning of Islam, the history of Jharkhand and trade of spices. They seem to me to be an extension of the emotions that run through the length of the book. <br /><br />Characterisation is one department that probably lags behind. Though Potla is a character who appears half way through the book, in Chapter Six The Cloud of Mercy to be exact, he is a flat character that hangs around on the sidelines till the end just enough to romance Billy. He could have been better fleshed out to juxtapose the varied dimensions of the dead artist as opposed to the living one. <br /><br />Use of both imagery and language is seamless in this story. Neither stands out like a sore thumb nor do they absorb all the limelight. They prop up the story with dexterity and move the narrative forward as expected of them.<br /><br />Black Light cleverly dramatises the oxymoron in the lives of those whose talent has been smothered. As the society looks on unseeing, most of these smothered talents die a stunted and anonymous death. While the book sends out a message to all the Medhas out there to follow their hearts, the art exhibition is a highly literal representation of the indifference of the society towards anything unfamiliar or different. <br /><br />However, the book does end on a hopeful note where amends have been made and life-changes affected to align themselves with their truer selves.</p>
