Sleeping On Jupiter
By Anuradha Roy
Although not initially enthralled with the idea of reading this 2016 novel, I did give it a chance (again, thank you, book club, for expanding my reading horizons!), and discovered that I quite enjoyed it.
“A woman revisits her childhood experiences of violence and sexual abuse in an Indian temple town” (from the The Guardian review) told me this was a novel dealing with exactly the kind of subject I usually shy away from, e.g. too much sordid reality, especially dealing with children: I tend to gravitate toward more escapist fare, but duty called. The reader is introduced to Noma, the central character, as a 6 year old child, leading a perfectly normal life in her village in India with father, mother and brother, when war intrudes, violently. She escapes the slaughter with her mother, but within days, she is separated from her and eventually ends up spirited away to an ashram far from her home, where she spends the next several years of her life, along with a number of other kidnapped girls. Needless to say, this opening chapter did not bode well for my escapist tendencies.
The second chapter brings the reader into the present context, focusing on three elderly women travellers taking the 14-hour train ride to the temple city of Jarmuli for an outing. Latika, Gouri and Vidya are assigned a compartment with a young woman who turns out to be, not surprisingly, the now young adult Nomi of the introductory chapter. In the course of the rest of the book, by way of flashbacks, we discover how Nomi came to be on the train to Jarmuli, and the details of her life before and after the life-altering ashram experience. Defying all odds, she has become a documentary filmmaker, and is returning to Jarmuli to make a movie about this resort town where she grew up. Although she is there ostensibly on business, her hidden agenda is to find both the ashram and the guru who was responsible for her childhood traumas.
Much of the charm of the novel comes from the three older women in the train, lifelong friends, but very different from one another. Gouri, who is exhibiting signs of dementia, is looked after by the others; since she occasionally disappears, this is not an easy task. Of the three, she is the only one who is motivated by the spiritual nature of the trip. Vidya, retired from a bureaucratic position, is the designated caretaker. “Her voice exuded wisdom and forethought. Everyone who knew Vidya admired this about her: she thought of everything, and for everyone. She had a square broad face in which eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth, everything was in proportion and the right shape, yet the sum of it, inexplicably, did not go beyond symmetry.” Latika is the most worldly and outgoing member of the trio, and still interested in attracting members of the opposite sex.
Other characters appearing in the novel include Gouri’s dissolute son, Suraj, coincidentally in Jarmuli at the same time as his mother, and also coincidentally, working with Nomi on research for the planned documentary. Suraj is the least sympathetic character in the novel, with his own history of abuse towards animals and his wife, from whom he is now divorced. It comes as no surprise that he fancies himself a suitable match for the much younger, much smarter Nomi.
There is Badal, a temple guide, and the young man to whom he is wildly attracted, Raghu, erstwhile employee of Johnny Toppo, owner of the local tea stall business on the beach. Although none of these secondary characters plays a particularly major part in the story, which really belongs to Nomi and her quest, they do provide local colour, giving the reader a portrait of life in a tourist town in modern India, as well as in the wider context of today’s India. Certainly the most difficult portions to read (at least for me) occurred in the frequent flashbacks to Nomi’s life in the ashram, and her status as the “favourite” of the head of the ashram, Guruji, a charismatic, well-respected but totally sadistic, hypocritical and venal individual. In the current context of “Me too”, Guruji stands out as one of the worst offenders, essentially keeping a stable of young girls for his own amusement, and hiding behind the guise of a nurturing father figure. Sound familiar?
Nomi and one of her fellow ashram prisoners ultimately escape from captivity, although not all are so lucky. Following her departure and many subsequent difficulties, she is adopted by a Norwegian woman. Unfortunately, likely because of her background of brutality and emotional treachery, she seems to be incapable of returning the warmth of her adoptive mother.
The writing throughout is generally beautifully wrought, and truly a pleasure to read. There is no standard plot to speak of, but the many jarring, often evocative images of the surroundings— and the customs depicted in the novel— tell us much that is disturbing about the lives of both men and women in this society. If one of your criteria for a good novel is to come away with some new information or knowledge about our world, then this lush and well-crafted novel might be for you. It is available at the Lennoxville Library.
Anuradha Roy is the author of several other well-received novels, including The Folded Earth, which won the Economist Crossword Prize, and An Atlas of Impossible Longing, which was named a best book of the year by The Washington Post and The Seattle Times. She lives in Ranikhet, India.