Vignettes of resurrection rebellion
When Shobhaa De first wrote about Mumbai’s high society jinks, a slew of similar novels followed in her wake. Bindu Dalmia in her debut book, The Diary of a Lutyens’ Princess, brings us the inside story about the lives of the elite living in Delhi. The book title could mystify a reader unfamiliar with Delhi; the Lutyens’ world is a heritage area in the capital, an oasis of decadence and splendour inhabited by the rich and powerful. Calcutta also makes a brief appearance in the book, covering a tricky period when the rich lived hedonistic lives even as Naxalism was rearing its formidable head.
Akshraa is a young woman born into a middle class family. Her father, a bureaucrat with a patriarchal mindset, expects his daughters to follow societal conventions and finish their studies before settling down in arranged marriages. Akshraa revolts. After a short-lived marriage to her childhood sweetheart, she heads for Delhi with her little son to make a life for herself. A job in the hospitality industry follows and Akshraa discovers qualities of corporate acumen in herself. In the course of her work, she meets Suryaprakash Mittal, a scion of a prominent family steeped in tradition and Hindutva sentiments. Their relationship is frowned upon by both sets of parents; nevertheless they get married and live independently, Suryaprakash splitting up his time between his wife and his parents.
Over time, the relationship develops cracks. Akshraa’s pampered life plays out against a backdrop of soirees and kitty parties. And one day Suryaprakash just drifts out of her life. With her grown-up son for company, Akshraa decides to rebuild her life instead of moping for her estranged husband. A brief relationship with an attractive banker follows, but it is of a fleeting kind. The mid-life crisis in Akshraa’s life arrives when Suryaprakash is detained by the Economic Offences Wing. Akshraa realises that she still cares for her husband and goes all out in clearing the allegations.
The plot of the book is neither original nor revolutionary, an impressionable young woman’s brush with high society having been done by countless authors. The writing too is dangerously sentimental, often tripping right into self-indulgence and frivolity. And yet Bindu Dalmia brings it all together to make the book a compelling read. The shallow musings of a rich bored wife are illuminated by flashes of insightful political and social commentary. There are meticulously researched and astutely analysed passages about the country’s milestones—the Babri Masjid drama, the collapse of Indian economy in the early 1990s, the Kejriwal win in Delhi, etc. The empathy for the oppressed and marginalised rings warm and true but the most important bit is the message that the book sends out to women—that each woman is complete in herself. This is a clarion call to ladies with a tendency to devoting their lives to dead relationships and yet Dalmia manages the amazing feat of refraining from sacrificing love at the altar of feminism. No mean achievement, that.
Peppered with top-notch brand names and vivid descriptions of the playgrounds of the rich and famous, the book makes for snug armchair travel around the globe. The lavish praise showered on the book by famous namescould read a bit over-the-top. This autobiographical book is obviously a labour of deep love and well worth a read.