Book Review: Elixir

Date Read: 3rd February 2018

Elixir – Sinjini Sengupta

 

I heard of this book at a Christmas party last year, when I was requested to moderate the panel discussion for it’s Bangalore book launch. As luck should have it, I received the book about 2 weeks before the launch – 2 weeks that were so horrendously busy, that I was simply unable to read it beyond the first thirty pages. I’d heard that a moderator should be well versed with the book she was showcasing, but in all honesty, the book launch was a resounding success and the panel discussion was organic, yet genuine with brilliant inputs from the panel members.

But here’s the thing – I’m so glad that I didn’t read the book before presenting it because had I done that, I would have been a horrible moderator, putting my foot into the discussion and speaking as a passionate panelist instead.

The best part is that today, February 3rd, is a date mentioned at a key point in the story. So it does make it apt to write the review today, doesn’t it?

The first thing that one of the panelists at the book launch mentioned was that the book had a Mrs. Dalloway kind of feel to the writing style – a writing that was a lyrical yet prose – lyrical prose. This stream of consciousness multilinear derivatives of the protagonist’s mind and thoughts took a little getting used to, but it didn’t take long to sink into the plot. The language is lyrical, full of descriptive words, adjectives, alliterations, metaphors and brings the imagination alive with the narrative. I did, however, laugh at the frequent use of the word ‘pray‘ bring back memories of school English literature texts.

So the plot – and I’ll get that out of the way first, is fairly simple – complicated only with the fact that the plot deals with the mind and all its variegations. It was simple where the plot involved relationships, and yet complicated just the way relationships are. It was a simple plot, yet, as matters of the mind and resolution of its loops go, the simplicity was drawn to pages of overdrawn exhaustion. Perhaps it was the exhaustion that got me to rush and know what happened next.

The biggest draw that this story had for me was that it was relatable – I could relate to it.

I could relate to it because it drew a parallel between relationships and how the dynamics within those relationships play a role on the mental health of those involved. I could relate to loneliness and how chronic loneliness could end up in a desperate attempt to seek an escape outlet. I recognise fantasy and the make-believe world that we can visualise and seek comfort in – where no limitations and social rules apply, and yet, we come back. And the book explores that possibility of shifting into a reality of dreams – that is what happens to Manisha, the protagonist, who believes the water she drank at a cafe opened the gateway to her dreams – the pathway to finding herself

I could relate to it because there were bits of my own experiences there – sometimes in exact measure, at other times blown out of proportion indefinitely – but they were there. The strictures that society places around the acceptance of someone’s mental situation that is different to their perceived normal is horrendous. Manisha’s husband’s reluctance to see the value in paying attention to his wife’s emotional needs simply because he was raised in an atmosphere of constant attention was a crystal clear mirror to the patriarchal torment that many Indian / Asian women suffer. The overbearing mother-in-law’s insistence on calling Manisha too proud / too successful for her own good, or too lazy and pretending to be ill while her poor baby was struggling to make ends meet – uff ! I wanted to get into the book and shake that woman!

Aarrrghh!! I wanted to scream when I read of those moments where Manisha’s father experienced his son-in-law’ cold demeanor when he visited and the ‘brushing aside his presence as invisible’ bit was a little too close for comfort. Is such behavior so permissible in our society just because we don’t openly speak about it and call it out? This is real stuff because it really happens! It really does!!!

I must say, the author has really put in the effort in developing the characters, at least surrounding the narcissistic profile and I knew what a shit that Amit was, lol, and what he was capable of just by reading his initial behaviors.

Eventually, albeit through this alter-world that Manisha goes to, there is a gradual move towards finding herself – towards those eternal questions and answers of being enough, being beautiful, being free, and having the permission to be free were touched upon. The fleeting moments of confusion were there for the readers to tag along into.

I can see why the movie would have so much potential with the antagonist thriving on a controlling, self-obsessed personality disorder with a very low emotional quotient along with your stereotypical Indian family that fails to accept the daughter-in-law but holds high and insensitive expectations of her – the drama is palpable – while at the same time, the floating, lightness of illogical dreamscape adds a lovely color of artistic vibrance.

To nail it down, I liked it – the excessive narrative tired me a bit, I felt it was overdrawn at times to scream, “Enough already!!” but the mind does go in circles at times, doesn’t it? It also takes its own time to learn that it is enough already. The ending scared me a teensy bit but that is where I change my dreamscape when I go to bed tonight!