With winter almost here, bibliophiles have embarked on a frantic search for cosy, light-hearted reads to end the year on a warm note. Hema Sukumar’s debut novel, Minor Disturbances at Grand Life Apartments, makes for the perfect addition to the pile of books, which is bound to leave you feeling optimistic.
Set in the coastal city of Chennai, the novel revolves around the residents of a middle-class apartment block surrounded by a lush garden. There is Kamala, a dentist who perennially obsesses over her daughter Lakshmi when she’s not working part-time at the clinic.
Over emails and texts, she pleads for her to return from Oxford for the holidays. Then there is Revathi, a software engineer who is exhausted of being told to marry, and not getting the long-due promotion at work. Her only source of comfort is the neighbourhood cat, Poons, who she feeds regularly, and the odd glass of wine, which she cradles while curled up with a book. The third resident is Jason, an Englishman, who left his sullen job in the UK after a heartbreak and is now working at a fancy restaurant in Chennai. Still hung up on his former partner, he simply can’t stop checking her social media profile. Finally, there is Mani, the owner of the Grand Life Apartments, and the lush garden that surrounds it.
Sukumar devotes a chapter each to the tenants, focusing on the nuances of their everyday interactions. She brings to life, in the pages of her novel, the warmth of an intimate neighbourhood, where people come through for each other despite their distinct problems. In this context, Jason’s portrait is particularly striking. Perhaps, because it is rare to have a white person viewed through a non-white lens.
We see Sukumar paint a refreshing picture of the man sans stereotypes. His personality is built with the utmost sensitivity. Jason’s hurt and loneliness in a foreign land is balanced by his cordial exchanges with Kamala, Revathi, Mani and the frequenting delivery boy, Salim. And his life as a chef trying to pick up the intricacies of Tamil cuisine is plain riveting.
These disturbances, which once consumed their lives, begin to seem minor when a major complication—contractors threatening Mani to give up the building—rears its ugly head, uniting the four of them like never before. Anxious about being displaced, they come up with tricks to navigate the situation, thereby, finding new appreciation for not just the building that is their home, but also each other.
The novel is peppered with several minor yet indispensable characters. Sukumar’s writing shines the brightest in the memorable depiction of this supporting cast. Among them is Sundu, Kamala’s closest friend, who becomes the perfect foil to her career-oriented but homophobic friend.
A similar conflict is brought to the fore as Revathi mulls over the decisions of Ranji (a colleague) and Shreya (a friend). Does a woman’s desire to be independent trump over the decision to marry rich and settle abroad? Sukumar’s third-person narration lends the novel an objective voice, which seems imperative, especially when she delves into the histories of some of these characters.
Despite providing a lot to appreciate and admire, the author’s prose sometimes gets needlessly over-the-top. For instance, the use of phrases such as ‘paneer in a radioactive looking red sauce’, ‘a waterfall of tears’ and ‘a watermelon-shaped man’ indicates the absence of a seasoned editor. It is also evident in the loose plot ends. The readers are never told how Kamala’s awkward trip to the UK concluded. While built-up excellently, the reader never finds out if Kamala’s homophobic dispositions changed. If not, how does she rationalise it?
Notwithstanding the gaps, Sukumar’s novel is a timely book, which packs the much-needed warmth of living in a community. It will come in handy on bad news days when optimism doesn’t come easy.
Minor Disturbances at Grand Life Apartments
By: Hema Sukumar
Publisher: Hachette
Pages: 302
Price: Rs 699