Family Matters -- Rohinton Mistry

I will be meeting up with my lovely travel mates this weekend and finally swapping (or getting) photos to post up on FB and to write about here. Until then, the blog must go on, and I have been absolutely itching to write about the novel I read while drifting along the Nile.
Doesn't that picture just look so poetic? I read while drifting along in a felucca, just like this one. Life is now complete.

******* Spoiler Warning *******

First off, I have to say that I absolutely adore Rohinton Mistry. He is an amazing writer. His writing is simple -- no colourful sentences, but they are so raw and beautiful, they bring tears everytime. He writes about simple, everyday life. I think a common theme is the impact of our simple gestures.

Family Matters takes place in present day Bombay (now Mumbai, though I like the sound of Bombay more). It looks at the family of Nariman Vakeel, including his step daughter Coomy, step son Jal, his daughter Roxana and her family (husband, Yezad and her two young boys, Murad and Jehangir).

Nariman has Parkinson's disease. After an accident where he injures his ankle, he is no longer able to care for himself. He relies on the help of his step children's care including using the bathroom, cleaning himself and other daily necessities. His step children are too squeamish and too proud to care for him and deceitfully place him in the care of his daughter. Roxana lives in a tiny one bedroom apartment with her husband and two young children.

In the duration of his time at Roxana's, we see how the family struggles financially and emotionally. We also see the family pull through with their love and compassion for one another. We see them go to extremes in order to try to take care of one another. Our heart strings are pulled at the simplest actions made with the greatest of love --sometimes, at the cost of their dignity. The line between what is right and wrong is blurred because we know the reasons behind the actions.

We also see that Nariman is haunted by his unrequited love for his young sweetheart, Lucy. They fell in love and dated for almost ten years, but since he was Parsi and she was Goan, it was an uphill battle, and they gave up on their love. He married a widow with two young children, and hoped to leave his old life -- and love -- behind. It wasn't easy for him or his new family. Lucy and their love haunted this new family, and slowly, we are shown the devastation it caused.

The deep love shared between Roxana and Yezad is very obvious, but we quickly see the strain on this relationship caused by Nariman moving into this cramped apartment. Their little rituals of goodbye kisses, followed by a wave from the balcony -- which they have never failed in their 15 years of marriage -- would be replaced by feelings of frustration, anger, and loneliness.

Roxana is exhausted after caring for her father, husband and their two sons. However, she tries to keep all their routines and rituals the same, for the sake of Yezad and the boys. There is not enough money to buy food and pay for her father's medicine.

Yezad is tired of his father-in-law staying in their cramped apartment. He can't stand the smell of urine that happens in the morning when Nariman needs to go. Why must his family suffer, just because Nariman's step children are too selfish to care for him? He also realizes that he is not making enough money to pay for Nariman's medicine and support his family. Yezad has never gambled in his life. He knows it is wrong. But, the lady next door seems to have very good fortune with guessing lottery numbers.

We see compassion even in the two boys. This is one of my favourite moments of the entire stories. Murad (the older brother) loved to tease Jehangir about being naive and gullible. One of the topics they debated was Santa Claus. Jehangir refused to believe in Santa, even though Murad tried in vane to convince him otherwise.

There was obviously no such thing as allowance in this household. However, Murad had been saving his bus fare -- hence walking home from school everyday -- to buy his little brother a Christmas present, three books.

On Christmas Eve, he sneaks into where Jehangir slept to put it into his stocking. Jehangir actually awoke from some noises in the house. He saw his brother walking towards his stocking. This was his chance to catch him red-handed and prove once and for all that Santa Claus did not exist. That'll show Murad, Jehangir thought. But something stopped him.

Jehangir got ready to pounce. Now? He hesitated. He could see Murad's expression, the little smile that flickered. There was tenderness in his brother's face.

Suddenly he understood why Murad wanted him to believe in Santa Claus: not to make a fool of him, but because he wanted him to enjoy the story... [A story that] let you imagine there was a better world somewhere else. You could dream of a place where there was lots to eat... a place where there was no beggars, no sickness, and no one died of starvation. And once a year, a jolly fat man brought gifts for good children...

All this was what Murad wanted for him. To jump up in bed and say, I caught you, you can't trick me, would be so mean. [Jehangir] shut his eyes tight, not moving a muscle.

-- Mistry, Rohinton. "Family Matters" p323

It is moments like this. So simple, and yet so full of love and compassion in the smallest of actions -- and written so eloquently -- that make this book so beautiful, so sad and so endearing.

I thought the epilogues was also very fitting. I guess throughout the novel, we feel that the cramped apartment and lack of money was the root of this family's unhappiness. It certainly caused a lot of problems for them. There was a happy ending, and this family moved to a big house with plenty of room, and they have enough money to live comfortably. Yet, they face new dilemmas and there are new family problems in their new large home. Some characters changed, some stayed the same, and some just grew up.

I guess that's why this book is called Family Matters. It's very appropriate. Most families have problems -- whether they be large or small. What it means to be a family is how you choose to face the problems and how to overcome them. With love and compassion, or with out. When one problem is solved, another one usually arises. Happiness is not static, and neither is a family. It's not just the circumstances of a situation that make it a good or bad one -- its the attitude you have towards it.

Unlike an action packed book where my eyes are racing to the next paragraph to find out what happens next. I read every word of this novel. I wanted to soak it all in and enjoy every line. Sometimes I reread an entire chapter, or scene, because it's just so beautiful. So emotional. I shouldn't read books like this in public. lol.

You should read this book. If you made it this far, I think I caught your attention:) If you know me, feel free to ask me to borrow it!