ARRANGED MARRIAGE BY CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI: REDEFINING THE AMERICAN DREAM FOR INDIANS THROUGH FEMINIST STORYTELLING

We are all familiar with the term ‘American Dream’. Coined by James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book The Epic of America, the American Dream is the abstract idea that, regardless of background, people can live richer, fuller lives through initiative. But what does this dream mean for the Indian diaspora in the US, particularly the women? Do all of them fulfil their dreams? Or are some people still bound by their cultural norms in a land that promises liberty? These are a few of the many ideas Chitra Banerjee explores in her collection of 11 short stories, Arranged Marriage.

​This book explores the lives of Bengali women, some of whom move abroad, and others who stay in Bengal to navigate ambitions, romance and complex family dynamics. Now, to be clear, while the title of this book is Arranged Marriage, all stories do not feature the same. Some feature love marriages, while others explore friendships, parenthood, and the bittersweet relationship women share with their mothers. It also explores many sensitive topics like domestic abuse, rape and foeticide with a lot of care and realism. The women in these stories live different lives, but they share one thing in common: they are not passive recipients of injustice, but active participants in change. Be it a woman taking in an unknown child to build a safe home for him, a sister, a widow’s ambition to educate herself, or the undying love between two sisters, each story brings out the strength in women.

Every story is meaningful, but three of my favourite short stories are Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs, The Maid Servant’s Story and Ultrasound.

Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs explores the story of Jayanti, a wealthy aristocrat’s daughter who travels to America for studies. Jayanti harbours a romanticised image of the country, which is shattered early on when she begins living with her aunt, Pratima, and her uncle, Bikram. One day, she urges Pratima to take a stroll in a neighbourhood, but an attack from racist children forces her to reevaluate her stance on the American Dream.

​In The Maid Servant’s Story, a young woman runs away from a life of forced prostitution arranged by her husband and mother, and finds shelter and a job at an aristocrat’s house. The maid starts taking care of the family’s pregnant daughter-in-law, and in exchange gets an opportunity to learn how to read and write. The story takes a dark turn when the daughter-in-law falls ill at a later stage in her pregnancy and is admitted to the hospital for weeks. Meanwhile, her husband rapes and abuses the maid out of lust and the intent to drive her away from the house.

​Ultrasound is the story of unconditional love between two cousins, Runnu and Anju, who get pregnant around the same time and share their journey with one another through letters and occasional phone calls as Runnu lives in India, as a daughter-in-law of a joint family, and Anju lives in America with her husband. Runu runs away from home when her in-laws find out that she is carrying a girl and force her to have an abortion. When Anju finds out about Runu’s predicament, she decides to rehabilitate her by first helping her move in with her mother in India, then by planning to sponsor her trip to America so she can find a job in knitting and become financially independent to raise her daughter.

​What I really like about the storytelling in this book is how it accurately captures the dilemma of Indian women caught between the patriarchal values they grew up with and the new perspectives they develop through education, travel, and financial independence.

Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and liberating, Arranged Marriage is a must-read for lovers of short stories and feminist fiction.