The discourse around #MeToo was intensely passionate and divisive. Years later, as the gender and culture wars continue to rage, there seems to be little space left for civilised conversations. Shuma Raha’s The Sea Has the Answers is a gentle breeze that refuses to be overwhelmed by the raging social media storm. The author wades into the grey areas of a burning issue, examining it from every possible angle, including the perpetrator’s.
Her graceful protagonist, Urmimala Das, finds her world turned upside down when her handsome, charming, and aggressively successful husband, Shankar, is brought down by a wave of #MeToo allegations, including rape charges. As the endless “he said–she said” debate unfolds, one thing becomes clear: Urmi has been repeatedly cheated by Shankar, a deeply entitled man who has treated his workplace as a hunting ground for sexual conquests. As Urmi navigates the fallout from the allegations amplified by social media, she feels compelled to flee the wreckage of her marriage and seek refuge in a small seaside town. Unfortunately for her, she discovers that sexual predators exist even in this idyllic retreat. Complicating matters further is her own belated sexual awakening as she begins an affair with a young journalist. Through it all, Raha’s voice is measured and her prose mellifluous.
Raha’s decision to centre the story on the partner of a predator is an intriguing one. Women like Urmi are often either ignored or pitied, without acknowledging that they, too, can be victims. Urmi herself has to grapple with societal and spousal expectations that she stand by her husband, no matter what, especially since she has enjoyed the perks of his success.
Shankar insists that everything that happened was consensual and that he should not be guilty. Convinced that he is the victim of vindictive women, he believes they have “gathered up their pent-up spite, their unspewed venom, and decided to attack him like a pack of she-wolves.” As for cheating on his wife, whom he genuinely loves, he puts it down to his illicit appetite for sexual adventures born of a raging libido, which makes him ponder: “What devilish impulse makes a man who loves one woman think nothing of making love to another?”
Urmi is forced to confront her own privilege when her helper’s sister is raped by a powerful godman who happens to be her neighbour. She begins to understand how poor, inarticulate women are repeatedly brutalised and broken by an unforgiving system. Urmi does what she can to help. “Patriarchy twinned with religion! The establishment was hardwired to protect this double bill of sacrosanctity,” she exclaims.
It takes time, but Urmi gradually breaks away from the patterns she has internalised—the expectation to submit to male-dominated power structures, the guilt of temporarily “shirking” motherhood, and the endless responsibilities imposed on women. In doing so, she begins a deeply personal journey towards healing and self-realisation.