THE FAR FIELD by Madhuri Vijay

The September 2019 selection for the Contemporary Book Club

Finished Tu 9/24/15

'THE FAR FIELD'; A hollow book that I learned nothing of the major  political and social elements of the story. A complete absence of exotic or local color. It could have happened in Peoria. My least favorite book of all of the books picked by the book club.

********After the book club meeting I changed my mind on the book. I listened to the podcasts by the author and listened to the discussion about the book by the members, and I think that I now appreciate the book. The theme is that Shalini is on a hero's quest, but she's in way over her head. She ends up hurting the people that she was trying to help. And they resent her and are unforgiving.


Shalini ("Murgi"- chicken)- The protagonist of the story

Bangalore- pop. 12 and a half million
Kishtiwar- pop. 131,000
1,900 miles between the two cities. America is approx. 2000 miles east to west

Shalini's mother commits suicide by drinking pesticide.

Her mother calls Shalini 'little beast'

Shalini gets 12,000 rupees to make the trip; $169
Pays Amina or Zoya??? 500 rupees for rent; $7

Bashir Ahmed- this is the peddler from The North Country who visits Shalini's mother and they, along with Shalini for a kind of relationship.

Abdul Latief
Zoya. The couple that take Shalini in when she travels to Kishtiwar.

Riyaz is the son of Bshir Ahmed and he lives in a small village within sight of Kishtiwar,
Amina is his wife and their son is Aaquib

Mohammad Din is the village elder and councilman. His daughter is Sania who Shalini teaches.

Stalin- a young soldier who hassles Shalini

Brigadier Reddy is a friend of Shalini's father and he has his soldiers get Shalini out of Kishtiwar during 'the troubles'.
Ramchand is Reddy's personal assistant

Shalini sleeps with the general. Why????

Comment on GoodReads: her naiveté, thoughtlessness, and selfishness rather repellent.

Bengaluru

Kashmir is contested by India, Pakistan, and China

"The Far Field is the recollections of Shalini, a thirty year old privileged woman living in Bangalore who shares what happened to her when, as a twenty-something grieving the death of her mother, she decided to track down a traveling salesman from Kashmir who visited their home (and who her mother was fascinated with) when she was a child/teenager."

This book was a spotlight into how the rich and powerful really hold the lives of the poor and disempowered in their hands, and how actions, whether malicious, or casually thoughtless, or even made of misdirected helpfulness all lead to the same thing.... the theme of cowardice.