Why is it that we remain rooted to things and people we grow up with? Be it homes or habits, the lasting effect of our growing up years stays and shapes us long after childhood is left behind. Why is it that our lives as adults are framed in these memories of childhood?
Author Ratna Rao Shekar taps into the lingering effect of those years in her debut novel, Listen to the House. Exploring one’s roots, female friendships, ageing and self-love, it is a charming expedition told through the lives of two childhood friends, Haasini and Malavika.
A silent yet looming third character in the book is the city of Hyderabad. Ratna successfully recreates a lost way of life through her telling of the many vignettes from the 1970s, influenced perhaps by her own growing-up years.
From the locally woven Venkatagiri sarees and telia rumals to the now-defunct bookstores such as the AA Hussain store or the dying tradition of making avakai (mango pickle) in one’s own home, it brings to the fore the fine details of a past that has all but vanished. The author is most assured when she speaks of typical experiences that many, who grew up in the city in the earlier decades, can relate to—languid afternoons, large guava trees in homes, lambada women dancing during Holi, eating baadam ki jaali or drinking Roohafza in the hot summers.
Haasini and Malavika’s friendship, which forms the heart of the tale, is explored through letters going back and forth between India, US and Paris, reflecting the girls’ thoughts and travails. Topics such as menstruation, early crushes and marriage are dealt with deftness, depicting certain harsh truths of being a woman. The book shines the brightest when it touches on topics that seem mundane but carry the weight of poignancy—ageing parents, spouses growing apart, and the realisation that happiness is a journey and not a destination.
While Malavika is married with kids to a US-based engineer, Haasini is a Bharatanatyam dancer who explores the world through the eyes of her craft. The pace of the crisp narrative adds to the book, as does the presence of strong women who ultimately realise they must own their lives.
The biggest take away from the book are the relationships—mothers and daughters who rebel and revel in each other, friends who become siblings, and a husband and wife who grow apart natuarally with the passage of time. The novel’s achievement is that it lingers ion the reader’s mind, long after you’re done, particularly through the letters—the wry words, delectable truths and nuggets of wisdom.
Listen to the House
By: Ratna Rao Shekar
Publisher: Notion Press
Price: Rs 299
Pages: 318