The Sleeping Dictionary by Sujata Massey

 

I spent many days just browsing through Scribd and Kindle and nothing really took my fancy. Every once in a while, me thinks, my mind falls into this dungeon where nothing goes into the head. So, after weeks and weeks of being in the doldrums, and this desperate search to get out of the reading slump, I chanced upon Sujata Massey. She has quite a few books to her credit and I usually like to read an author from the first book. I allow the author to sort of grow on me.

There is something wonderful about Calcutta/Kolkata. I am not the quintessential bhodro mohila; I do not speak the typical bengali of the Bengalis. You know how a language can become colloquial when you are out of its birth zone. But, I do feel wonderful being the Bengali that I am. I have frequented Kolkata just a couple of times but that place draws me like no other. I don't know if it is the history or my reading of some Calcuttan things or the places of visit or food or middle class standard of living that really touches the pits of heart. Maybe, I am in this silent pursuit of building back a little bit of my culture and traditions, which has gotten "contaminated" if I may say so, by living out of Calcutta/being a non Calcutta bengali. There is nothing like having dal bhaat or having your mouth stuffed with puchkas and roshogollas.

So, when I chanced upon The Sleeping Dictionary, I just plunged into its unfamiliar familiarity. Keeping my ramblings short, this book may not be a book that everyone will take to. It is probably not a book that you need to get out of a reading slump. But, how I sailed through 50 chapters is quite surprising to me. The Sleeping Dictionary ideally, can be divided into two parts - The story of the Protagonist and the story of India in the Colonial Times.

The book divides itself already, taking its protagonist, Pom/Pamela/Sarah/Kamala (all these names belong to one person) through different time lines and situations and how she overcomes them. I was quite bugged about her story and how much a person could really be tested by life's ways. By almost the 40th chapter, I was beginning to cross my fingers and was hoping that Massey had not put yet another struggle in Pom's path. Amidst trials and tribulations, Pom finds true love and thankfully, she had a well-deserved happy ending. Massey's skill of describing romance and some of its scenes often took me back to the scenes of Sound of Music. Beautiful and not the Bollywood mushiness.

The second part of the book sort of appealed to me as it spoke of India's fight for Independence. Most of our history books showed us the fight from the eyes of the political leaders and what is it that they did or did not do. But, here was a story that focused on lay man and what their daily contribution looked like. History is not always one sided. I am not a political person and I can actually run very fast if someone were to start a political discussion! But, there was/is something very inspiring in the story of Subhash Chandra Bose. I have read him up because of my association with the Indian Museum here in Singapore, and it always sort of fills me with pride of the contributions of every single person in the freedom struggle. IMO, I like the fact that he didn't keep accolades to himself but encouraged everyone to participate. This book speaks a lot of that participation.

Overall, this book is nice but may not feature in everyone's TBR. Thank me for that There are recipes at the end of the book. One is phan bhaat - over boiled starchy rice that is eaten with ghee and boiled eggs n potatoes on the side. Then there is shorshe chingri - shrimp cooked in typical mustard sauce. There are discussion questions at the end for us to read and give our grey matter some fodder.