Book: The Namesake
Author– Jhumpa Lahiri
Publisher– Harper Collins
Genre– Indian Writing | Contemporary Fiction
Format- Paperback
Pages: 304
Price– ₹214
Edition Language– English
Rating– ****
Reviewed by– Jyoti Jha
That sense of insecurity around one’s identity and the persistent perplexity and ambiguity about one’s existence whether in a family or society is agonizing. Strangely enough, whenever there is a mention of an identity crisis, I am instinctively drawn to it! And when I laid hands on Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘The Namesake’, I could only feel instantly being connected to the story, one that cries out loud the sensitivity around identity crisis.
The book predominantly highlights the hardships and scrambles of immigrants and their invariable grapples with a new culture, deftly demonstrating the conflict of the identity of ‘American-born child of foreign-born parents’. The Bengali tradition of naming, the immense inclination of the character ‘Ashok’ towards the works of a famous Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol, and a particular incident in his life that seemed centered around his favourite author, all results in naming his son as ‘Gogol Ganguli’ and which becomes a despised label for Gogol and the basis of his identity crisis while he struggles to accept his Indian heritage in American land. Ashok and Ashima move from Calcutta to Massachusetts and while Ashok seems quietly fitting into his set routine, Ashima wrestles and oscillates between preserving her Bengali culture and adapting to the foreign customaries. Trying to build a future, all the while longing for the past, the couple continually strive to maintain a balance between ‘Indian roots and American life’. However, their son, Gogol has a tough time accepting his family’s ‘Indianness’ as he tries hard to adjust to the American trends.
Centered around the conflict of identity- whether it is the son struggling with his peculiar name, or the parents trying to create an Indian life on foreign soil; the story parallelly draws attention to various other aspects like cultural disparity, adjusting to an ‘itinerant lifestyle’, and a profound connection and symbolism of trains, books, and reading. A significant turning point is seen in the story as the protagonist, Gogol unburdens the pressure of his name by changing it to ‘Nikhil’. For most of his formative years, he spends hating a name and identity imposed on him and running away from it, and only with time, he begins to understand his parents’ side of the story.
A yet another aspect portrayed through this novel is the representation of Indian women and how they internalize their femineity and make sacrifices to remain dutiful wives. On the other hand, through another character, a stark opposite trend is highlighted where a woman fights her way towards living a life of free will.
The book undoubtedly portrays the continual challenges of Indians living aboard and their gradual drifting away from the roots on several levels. The minute observations intricately imbibed in the narrative are magnificently relatable and accurately hit the chord. However, it also made me contemplate that when we choose a life far away from our home country, shouldn’t we be prepared to completely accept and accommodate to the culture we have exposed ourselves and our children to, instead of constantly fighting against it? After all, it was our free choice and out of willingness that we decided to dwell in that culture and country. While cherishing one’s roots and trying to hold on to them is significant, but letting it become a constant hurdle in the possibility of prospering in a new culture we have selected to thrive in, doesn’t it look futile?
Related Articles
The Wizardry of the Wizard of Sansanadia
Exploring the Inner Peace in Inner Trek
Buttons & Lace: A Sly Dig on Human Trafficking
While I deeply relate to the fine read and an engrossingly compelling story, I fathom from the book that we should not become so gripped with highlighting the drawbacks of staying in a foreign land that we completely erase the advantages we are generating from exposing our children to an advanced living. The more I read The Namesake, I become a greater fan of Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing, and I believe that the book also implies an imbibed message that beyond all the challenges of living and raising children abroad, apart from the cultural disparities, we should also learn to accept and adjust to the choices we make in life and make peace with it.
I immensely enjoyed reading the book and its impactful imprint that forces one to reflect on the prospect of living and raising children in the west. I strongly believe that focusing merely on the challenges may have become passé. Owing to the current scenario where we had a near-dystopian experience, maybe it is about time we shift our focus to highlighting and relishing the beauty around the world and creating a utopian world both within and outside.
