baggy monstrousness of most Victorian novels in
its prodigious cast of characters, epic proportions,
and historical sweep. The book is a veritable soap
opera, peopled with a plethora of characters, most
of whom get passing attention, and are rarely, ex-
cept for the main ones who power the plot, devel-
oped beyond a sketch.
Set in the early 1950s, in newly postindependent
India, the novel is imbued with the lingering ideal-
ism that inspired a whole generation of freedom
fighters in their anticolonial campaign against the
British. The small town of Brahmpur, where most
of the action takes place, is located in the imagi-
nary province of Purva Pradesh in North India.
The narrative seems untroubled by the angst of
postcolonial identity conflict and confusion aris-
ing from the long history of colonial rule by Brit-
ain in India or even the bloodbath that ensued in
North India following the partition of the country
after independence. And yet hitherto ignored con-
flicts of class, caste, religion, and gender linger just
behind the scenes, only to surface when they are
intertwined with such issues as the conflict over
the land reform laws and the resettlement of large
Hindu and Muslim populations dislocated follow-
ing the partition of the country.
The novel combines satire and romance to
great effect as it traces the fortunes of four fami-
lies, the Mehras, Kapoors, Chatterjis and Khans.
The complex train of events that constitutes the
novel is set off when Rupa Mehra, the resourceful,
widowed mother of Lata, declares to her daugh-
ter that “You too will marry a boy I choose.” The
main narrative framework, then, is anchored by
the conflicting loves, lives, and contrasting per-
sonalities of the four young men who are pre-
sented as potential mates for Lata. The first, Mann
Kapoor, who is one of the principal characters in
the text, is the somewhat misguided, hopelessly
romantic younger son of Mahesh Kapoor. Lata
and Mann are connected to each other through
their respective siblings, Savita and Pran, whose
marriage opens the novel’s narrative. The narra-
tive only teases us momentarily with a possible
relationship between them, before it follows more
intimately Mann’s obsession with the courtesan
singer, Saaeda Bai, and through her a vanish-
ing world of courtly traditions and high culture.
Kabir Durrani, the dashing college mate whom
Lata first falls in love with, is considered unsuit-
able because he is Muslim. Amit Chatterji is the
easy-going, talented young litterateur who is at-
tracted to Lata, but she rejects the hyperactivity,
insincere cosmopolitanism, and tiring linguistic
prodigiousness of the Chatterjis. Haresh Khanna,
who appears at first to be objectionable in his
abruptness and apparent insensitivity, wins Lata
over with his down-to-earth honesty, entrepre-
neurial drive, and integrity. It helps, too, that he
is suitable in his caste and class affiliations, even if
he is less than elegant for the sophisticated tastes
of Lata’s brother.
Seth has a keen eye for the comedy of manners,
and his command over the English language is
seen in the way he delineates characters and their
social milieu through their use of language. A hi-
larious example of this wicked sense of humor is
encapsulated in the Brahmpur University Poets
Society meeting.
Despite its ambitious pan-Indian vision of sec-
ular inclusiveness, A Suitable Boy is determinedly
bourgeois and North Indian in focus, limited in
its regional and class interests. Despite its real-
ist bent, the novel cannot resist becoming an al-
legorical narrative of the aims and aspirations of
a young postcolonial nation that emulates a Eu-
rocentric economic and social model in eschew-
ing traditional identities, secular ideals, and the
homegrown entrepreneurial energy of the Punjabi
people. So Haresh Khanna, the man Lata chooses
to marry, exemplifies the integrity and drive that
modern India needs. He may be unfashionably
stodgy and lack the cosmopolitan urbanity of
Arun Mehra and the Chatterjis but is more admi-
rable in his honesty and gruff warmth.
In arguing for the eventual disappearance of
traditional caste- and religion-based identities, the
novel affirms an unalloyed belief in meritocracy.
Even the hapless Varun, Lata’s marijuana-smoking
younger brother, makes it to the Indian Admin-
istrative Service (IAS), the new elite of modern
post-independence India, through a competi-
tive exam. A Suitable Boy lauds the ethic of hard
work and intelligence and offers a new vision of aSuitable Boy, A 273