Madras on Rainy Days

Samina Ali's first novel, and I'm curious to know how autobiographical it is. Like her protagonist, Layla, Ali grew up in both India and the US - and she has a lot to say about how living in two worlds can mean you belong in neither.

This is in many ways a crushing novel. Ali is harsh on her characters, and particuarly unforgiving of the way that they allow tradition and religion to dictate their actions even at the cost of hurting loved ones. Layla suffered a lonely childhood, dedicated to easing her mother's troubles; at age 20, all she wants is to belong, to have a home - badly enough to acquiesce to an arranged marriage. Everyone has secrets that threaten societal rules - particularly both Layla and her husband-to-be - and efforts to keep these secrets cause a great deal of (unnecessary, to my areligious and Western mind) pain.

And yet Ali is lush in her description of India, despite the misogyny and terrible religious strife (Layla's family is Muslim, but tensions with Hindus play a significant role). Layla strongly considers staying, making her home and becoming fully Indian.

In the end, Madras on Rainy Days is an indictment of the clash of old and new, tradition and modernity, East and West. Each threatens the other, and yet, with a couple days remove, I would like to sense that there is some hope of reconciling the two in a way that preserves the best aspects of both.

***Re: New Orleans. I know that many of the few of you who read this blog don't have much to spare, but I urge you to give whatever you can to the relief effort. Good thoughts, prayers, blood, cash, time, whatever. The Red Cross is a good place to start, but so is the Louisiana SPCA - trying to save abandoned pets and hopefully reunite them with their owners - and Planned Parenthood has lost all the clinics in the affected area and are raising money to provide services and rebuild. Habitat for Humanity hopes to begin building homes for those left homeless by the end of the month. I'm reminded of Rudy Guiliani in the aftermath of 9/11 saying that the devastation will be worse than anything "we can possibly imagine".... But we can make that so much better.