KOCHI: Romance, romanticisation, mystery, pathos - The Broken Amoretti has it all. Told from the perspective of Saoli, an academic who recently got back to India from the US, the book co-authored by Sudipto Das and Aparajita Dutta and published by Niyogi Books, tells a tale of unrequited love.
However, you can’t call it a love story, even though it talks about love at length. Most stories progress out of curiosity. The case isn’t any different here. Saoli tries to find the reason behind the break-up of her college senior Parush and his girlfriend Bitasta.
Now Parush isn’t someone who took the break-up quite well. It ruined him in every possible way. All that Saoli knows is that Parush’s mother Sairandhri was the reason behind the split. The story progresses with Saoli trying to find the answers. There are quite a few subplots. One of them tells us about Saoli exploring her sexuality and falling in love with Parush’s beautiful sister Parushni.
This, by the way, is not the only same-sex relationship that the book talks about. There are no judgments here. These relationships are portrayed in their true sense and beauty, making them seem no different from a heterosexual romantic relationship. There is no hesitation, activism or hype. All that an open-minded reader sees here is love.
The story is set in IIT Kharagpur (IITKGP) and its neighbouring Prembajar. One of the authors, Das says that his inspiration to pen the book comes from the four years that he spent in the institute. However, The Broken Amoretti, which derived its name out of Edmund Spenser’s sonnet cycle is a work of fiction. Saoli is an English professor in IITKGP and lives in Prembajar. For some reason, it was not quite surprising to know that she voraciously reads poetry and adores Greek mythology, reinforcing certain stereotypes about Bengalis. Sometimes it feels that the mythology references are a little too much that could confuse a reader like me with a bad memory often gets confused. On top of that, there are quite a few characters.
But in the end, does Saoli end up solving the mystery? That’s for you to find out, flipping through a couple of hundred pages of well-detailed writing. The chances are, you will end up liking the story, learn a little about Greek mythology and get to know a few stereotypes to make fun of your Bengali friend.
IIT background
The story is set in IIT Kharagpur (IITKGP) and its neighbouring Prembajar
One of the authors, Das says that his inspiration to pen the book comes from the four years that he spent in the institute
Saoli, one of the characters, is an English professor in IITKGP and lives in Prembajar