Chasing the rainbow

|
  • 3

Chasing the rainbow

Sunday, 18 November 2018 | Avantika Pokhriyal

Chasing the rainbow

The Rainbow Acres

Author :  Simrita Dhir 

Publisher : Om Books, Rs 295

The American dream and the idea of spring inevitably following winter find a unique context in this book about Punjabi diaspora, says Avantika Pokhriyal

What makes The Rainbow Acres work is that the narrative captures the universal human desire to move about in search of better opportunities and a better life. Human diaspora is as old as human civilisation itself. By interweaving the stories of Sophia from Mexico and Kishan Singh Dillon from Punjab, the writer further underscores the ubiquity of this experience. As the novel tells its readers, unlike popular perception, immigration is not only about the destination, it is also about the journey. The immensely exhausting, endlessly dangerous, and yet uniquely invigorating journey of the countless Mexicans, Punjabis, Japanese, and Chinese immigrants is at the heart of this book. Every individual has a heart wrenching (and heartwarming) story, waiting to be told: Be it Han-Gan or Harbans Singh. Like many others before and after them, Kishan and Sophia are also drawn by the siren’s call that is California — the land of gold and golden opportunities.

As a reader, the cultural and linguistic shock and alienation that characters like Kishan, Jaspal and Han-Gan experience are easy enough to understand, and even pre-empt, but what is not as easy to grasp is the bitter-sweet taste of nostalgia that lingers in the heart of these expatriates. The longing for the homeland is a persistent ache that can find respite, only temporarily, in hazy memories. Trying to capture it in words is a failed enterprise. Hence, the immigrant is always locked in an unbreakable hold of his own memories. As Jaspal, Kishan Singh’s adoptive brother, tells him, he will never be able to fully explain certain experiences to his wife Isabel: “She will never know the lost wheat fields back in Noor Mahal or the smell of simmering saag that filled up my house on winter evenings. She will never know how influenza came in through the dark of the summer nights and tore my world apart. She will never know the reckless farmer boy that I was before boarding the ship to California in search of new moors.”

Yet, this untranslatability forms a bond which connects all immigrants, irrespective of religion, language and nationality. As a woman of Indian origin, living in the US, Dhir has captured the complexities of the diasporic life with both subtlety and nuances. The character of Kishan Singh has been very well-etched, especially in the first part of the novel. Sophia’s character on the other hand, seems a little rushed, in parts at least. Sophia’s turmoils en route California are too predictable and just as easily brushed off. She lacks the detailed delineation that has been bestowed on Kishan.

The American Dream is a constant presence in the text and informs and shapes the destiny as well as the life-choices of the protagonists. Both Kishan and Sophia are enterprising individuals, thus, their success in this land of opportunities is almost a given. Entrepreneurship is shown to be the cornerstone of the American economy and the writer seems to be fully invested in this ideal, at a personal level almost. The praise of America and the boundless avenues of personal and professional growth it offers are often on the verge of turning into populist puree. But, usually with Kishan Singh as her mouthpiece, the author also manages to make the readers understand the irony of it all. America is the land of freedom and yet for immigrants, like Jaspal and Kishan, freedom is a like the receding horizon — tantalising but ever just out of reach. And, it is in these moments that the protagonist truly shines out as the moral center of the text. Kishan Singh and Sophia are heroic not in the martial sense but in their actions and intentions. Their perseverance, integrity and zeal, whether for themselves or their loved ones, makes them stand out.

As mentioned above, the narrative operates on two levels — the story of Sophia’s life in Mexican Acapulco, then Guadalajara, and her (much) later life California; and the story of Kishan which begins in Punjab and then moves to Colorado. This interesting narrative technique eventually becomes one of the most jarring aspects of the novel. The two stories intersect much too late in the text and the later bond between Kishan and Sophia is not given sufficient time to develop.

In the final section of the novel, it seemed as if the writer decided to shift the focus from Kishan to Jaspal-which would not have been such an issue but for the fact that the latter does not have a well-defined character arch until this point in the text and as a reader it is difficult to suddenly invest in him.

Other than this, the novel is a gripping read and adds a great deal to one’s understanding of the diaspora of the Punjabis — Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs — to the US as farmers and a farmer’s undying love and commitment for his land. Both these aspects are especially interesting as one rarely reads about such topics in popular fiction. Kudos to the writer for her painstaking research and her lucid prose.

The Rainbow, like the rainbow at Kishan Singh’s farm after the storm, is the promise of hope that keeps one going in spite of all odds. It represents the quintessential American promise of wish-fulfilment at the end of a trial. It represents the cycle of nature-that transcends all nationalities and political boundaries — where spring will inevitably follow after winter.

Sunday Edition

CAA PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

24 March 2024 | Kumar Chellappan | Agenda

CHENNAI EXPRESS IN GURUGRAM

24 March 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

The Way of Bengal

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

The Pizza Philosopher

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

Astroturf | Lord Shiva calls for all-inclusiveness

24 March 2024 | Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo | Agenda

Interconnected narrative l Forest conservation l Agriculture l Food security

24 March 2024 | BKP Sinha/ Arvind K jha | Agenda