After so much talk about Bride and Prejudice, I decided to check it out myself. After a half bucket of homemade popcorn is gone I started to get bored. The movie was entertaining but I fast forward every time Aishwarya Rai and her gang started to sing in the street, on the beach or in the rice field. I think I'd lost interest to sit and watch the hero and heroin singing, running and hiding behind the trees under a pouring rain long time ago.
There was one scene stuck in my head like a sore thumb, the scene when Mrs. Bakshi sat in the living room of her relatives in England, whined about her unfortunate life for having four single daughters. She reminded me of the mothers in the novels by Indian women authors I read before. These middle age women were brutal, mean spirited and cold hearted.
Mrs. Bakshi was no different from mothers in Sharmila's Book, Shiva Dancing, Tamarind Woman, Darjeeling, Mango Season and a few more. These women viciously harassed and humiliated their daughters either in public or in private. Mrs. Bakshi was no different from makciks and concerned neighbors back home. In their eyes, their daughters were worthless without men. How tragic.
Their ultimate mission in their lives is to get their daughters off their backs. Having an unmarried daughter is a disaster to these women, an embarassment, a shameful.
How mess up is that when a mother is embarrassed and ashamed of her own daughter?
One last note: Naveen Andrews is a HUNK.
Ana,
I wanted to tell you about Life IS Not Haha Hehe when I was reading this but I totally forgot at the mere mention of Naveen Andrews! LOL This mini series was shown in BBC last year (or was it this year?) and I enjoyed it because it is fresh, modern and vocal. It is talkign more about Indian immigrants (and immigrants in general I'd liek to think) than the other books you mentioned - I haven't read most of them though.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/hahaheehee/screensaver.shtml
I hope you get to see them in US and a novel by the same creator Meera Syal of the same title was out with the series too.
Posted by: Lisa | September 22, 2005 at 02:42 PM
Lisa,
ohh....yesss, I agree with you. Naveen Andrews and Juliet Binoche was the only reason I watched English Patient.
Posted by: anasalwa | September 20, 2005 at 06:13 PM
haven't seen Bride&Prejudice - will wait till they show it on TV! Have you seen The English Patient? You simply must see the scene where Naveen Andrews was bathing.... and putting olive oil on his long silky hair... one of the sexiest and most sensuous scenes ever!
Posted by: Lisa | September 20, 2005 at 02:23 AM