by Dipika Rai
On a deeper level, I also used Someone Else’s Garden as a vehicle to examine Indian philosophy and values without compromising the authenticity of the day-to-day cruelty and hardship of living in the country. I chose to write a redemptive love story, because I could thoroughly explore the tension between all pairs of opposites – good and evil, love and hate, tradition and modernity, deification and rejection – in this context. I wanted to write a story that would impart a message of social consciousness and the need for people to change their attitudes regarding girls and women in India and elsewhere in the world, because I believe that cultures who do not honour their women are doomed to perish a slow and indi-gent death.
By the time Someone Else’s Garden was completed, I realised something extraordinary: sharing Mamta’s journey all these years had led to my own emotional and spiritual awakening. I had somehow changed in the telling of her story. And I wished the same for my readers.
It is my hope that Someone Else’s Garden will inspire a few people, question a few rules, and change a few beliefs.
‘LEARN THE TRUTH’
Things to Think About
‘Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know.’
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
From Socrates to the salons of pre-Revolutionary France, the great minds of every age have debated the merits of literary offerings alongside questions of politics, social order and morality. Whether you love a book or loathe it, one of the pleasures of reading is the discussion books regularly inspire. Below are a few suggestions for topics of discussion about Someone Else’s Garden . . .
• Someone Else’s Garden is an epic Indian novel. Which genres do you think it falls under and why?
• How has Lokend’s character contributed to your understanding of Indian philosophy?
• Lata Bai and Mamta: two generations of Indian women. What did you know about the position of women in rural Indian society before reading Someone Else’s Garden? In what ways has this book shaped your understanding of their experience?
• In chapter two, Singh Sahib muses to his late wife: ‘One of our sons gives away our lands while the other never tires of acquiring more. And they both do it in the name of honour!’ What is your view on the relationship between the two brothers? And what do you think about the wider conflict alluded to here, between love and land?
• ‘The slap damages her eardrum and sends her spinning to the other end of the hut. The blow takes her by complete surprise . . . Mamta runs her tongue along the inside of her mouth, and spits out a piece of broken tooth. Her eyelid is torn.’ After she marries, Mamta is treated savagely by her husband. How successfully do you think the author portrays Mamta’s abuse, and her reaction to it?
• ‘Her first meeting had given her a false sense of security. But Lata Bai is the quintessential rural woman. As an individual she may be able to stand behind her daughter, but as a member of her ilk she can’t.’ Does the author successfully explain the cycle of violence against women that is sometimes sustained and reinforced by their own mothers, through Lata Bai’s rejection of Mamta and her lover Lokend?
• Love, relationships, identity and redemption are all central themes of Someone Else’s Garden. In what ways do you think these are tested as the novel progresses? Are there any other themes that in your view lie at the heart of this book?
• How significant is the character of Prem? What do you think he brings to the novel?
• What do you think the future holds for Rani?
• The phrase ‘someone else’s garden’ appears throughout the book. What, for you, does this title symbolise and do you think it is a powerful one?
• Someone Else’s Garden is divided into four parts – The Sky is for Dreaming, Monsoon Darkness, Love is a River, The Smell of Wet Earth. What do you think the author has achieved by structuring the novel in this way? Is this an effective technique?
About the Author
DIPIKA RAI was born and raised in New Delhi. She was educated in one of India’s most prestigious boarding schools in the foothills of the Himalayas and then went on to do an MBA before going into banking. After a career change, she worked as a journalist for many years, writing for publications including Vogue India and Marie Claire. She now divides her time between India and the island of Bali where she lives with her husband and two children. This is her first novel.
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Copyright
A portion of the royalties from the sale of this book is donated to Pratham, the largest non-governmental organization in India working to provide quality education to under-privileged children. www.pratham.org
Th is book is a work of fiction. Th e characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SOMEONE ELSE’S GARDEN. Copyright © 2011 by Dipika Rai. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST U.S. EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-06-200035-4
EPub Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780062078582
11 12 13 14 15 ID/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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