Tamarind Mem: Amazon.ca: Anita Badami: Books

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"Everything is true, and everything is false," observes a character in Anita Rau Badami's Tamarind Mem, the paradox forming the central motif in a novel whose main concerns are the unreliability of memory and the subjectivity of story-telling. Especially when it comes to family history, what is remembered as fact is frequently fiction.

The book opens with Kamini, who has left India for Calgary in pursuit of a chemical engineering doctorate. Her younger sister, Roopa, married, has also left and is living in the U.S., but their widowed mother, Saroja, is still in India-travelling alone around the country by train, telling her life story to travellers she meets along the way, and sending her daughters postcards that exacerbate rather than relieve their worry.

The book is told from two viewpoints (the first half from Kamini's, the second from Saroja's), a technique that serves the author well. It allows daughter and mother to each speak for herself, and the resulting ironies and differing perspectives make for a richly textured work. It eventually becomes apparent that Kamini is much more like her mother than she thinks-intelligent, ambitious, irascible, and sharp-tongued-and that both are far more interested in life's vagaries than is the unimaginative Roopa, who is content to live in the present, ignore "the hidden worlds that seethed beneath the ordinary." Badami evokes Indian life convincingly, both the sensory and the cultural experiences. It's a society of arranged marriages, where caste is everything, where sons count and daughters don't. It's a society (of the sixties and seventies) still pandering to British ways years after Independence. As Saroja reminds her husband, the two girls must go to convent schools because without English "they will be like the servants' children." How the women in one particular family react to this environment forms the core of a powerful story. Eva Tihanyi(Books in Canada) -- Books in Canada

Book Description

Having moved to Canada from India, Kamini tries to make sense of the eccentric family she has left behind. Recounting the story of her mother's life, Kamini reveals the desires, secrets and fears that link different generations, exploring the bond between mothers and daughters.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading, Oct 27 2001

By

Joanne Schweitzer (Grande Prairie, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tamarind Mem (Audio Cassette)

This is a wonderful story, told from two perspectives - mother and daughter. The novel is set in India and the cultural aspects are interesting as is the story; good characters. An easy, pleasant read.

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Amazon.com: 4.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully observed Indian tale, July 4 1999

By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Tamarind Mem (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful book from Anita Rau Badami. It is well written and insightful. The first half of the book is the story of an Indian daughter's childhood with her ascerbic mother and absent father. Beautifully observed. The second half is the mother's story - her side of it (a reminder that there are always two sides to every story). It explores the mother-daughter relationship as well as women's issues. Read it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Poignant, melancholy and delightful, Mar 9 2006

By kattepusen - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Tamarind Mem (Hardcover)

As most people take for granted, memories are triggered by the faintest occurences. There is the distinct smell, for instance, that suddenly takes youu right back to your grandmother's closets or your uncle's work shop - and just like that everything becomes almost photographic in how you remember certain instances, even though you have not thought about them for twenty years. How quickly we are seduced by nostalgia...But how true are these memories of ours? They might not be false, but they are certainly highly subjective. But does that matter?

This colorful novel tackles the perception of memories in quite a clever way. The first half of the book is the narrative of Kamini, a daughter who reminisce about her past growing up in India. Through her we get a feel for the culture, sounds, smell and a certain mood of a bygone era that is often romanticized (right after Independence). Furthermore, we get a peak into the relationships among the family members, the servants and the school teachers.

Early on, there is a distinct strain between Kamini and her mother, Saroja. She loves her and yearns for her affection; however, she resents her and her "irrrational" moods. The father is distant, even when he is home from his railroad work. Her superstitious ayah, Linda, is quite an interesting person - Kamini is scared of her tales of ghosts and bad spirits, yet she feels safe in her company. The author has eloquently captured the mind of a girl - her growing-up angst, her lack of understanding the happenings in her midst, and the invincability typical of her age.

In the second half of the book, the author switches the narrative to the mother, and we get her side of the story. How do her memories compare to those of her daughter? It is an intriguing account!!! We follow her from childhood being prepared for an arranged marriage to widowhood reflecting back on her life and making plans for her independant years ahead.

I highly recommend the book - it is a sumptious and warm read.

This first-time author has avoided the trap of spelling it all out and leaves her readers the option of reading essential information between the lines. I did wish there was a map included in the book though. The family moves around to various parts of India since they belong to the railroad, and unless you are familier with Indian geography, it is too easy to get lost in the names.

I am looking forward to reading more from Anita Rau Badami!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Poignant, melancholy and delightful, Mar 7 2006

By kattepusen - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Tamarind Mem : A Novel (Paperback)

As most people take for granted, memories are triggered by the faintest occurences. There is the distinct smell, for instance, that suddenly takes youu right back to your grandmother's closets or your uncle's work shop - and just like that everything becomes almost photographic in how you remember certain instances, even though you have not thought about them for twenty years. How quickly we are seduced by nostalgia...But how true are these memories of ours? They might not be false, but they are certainly highly subjective. But does that matter?

This colorful novel tackles the perception of memories in quite a clever way. The first half of the book is the narrative of Kamini, a daughter who reminisce about her past growing up in India. Through her we get a feel for the culture, sounds, smell and a certain mood of a bygone era that is often romanticized (right after Independence). Furthermore, we get a peak into the relationships among the family members, the servants and the school teachers.

Early on, there is a distinct strain between Kamini and her mother, Saroja. She loves her and yearns for her affection; however, she resents her and her "irrrational" moods. The father is distant, even when he is home from his railroad work. Her superstitious ayah, Linda, is quite an interesting person - Kamini is scared of her tales of ghosts and bad spirits, yet she feels safe in her company. The author has eloquently captured the mind of a girl - her growing-up angst, her lack of understanding the happenings in her midst, and the invincability typical of her age.

In the second half of the book, the author switches the narrative to the mother, and we get her side of the story. How do her memories compare to those of her daughter? It is an intriguing account!!! We follow her from childhood being prepared for an arranged marriage to widowhood reflecting back on her life and making plans for her independant years ahead.

I highly recommend the book - it is a sumptious and warm read. This first-time author has avoided the trap of spelling it all out and leaves her readers the option of reading essential information between the lines. I did wish there was a map included in the book though. The family moves around to various parts of India since they belong to the railroad, and unless you are familier with Indian geography, it is too easy to get lost in the names.

I am looking forward to reading more from Anita Rau Badami!

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