Darjeeling by Bharti Kirchner
Published in Hardback (July 2002)
By St Martin's Press New York
ISBN 0 312 286422
302 pages
Guide Price: £14.00
Reviewed by Lopa Patel
Rating: (3 flames)
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In this novel, Bharti Kirchner evokes the memories of tea plantation owners in Darjeeling, an area that nestles at the foot of the Himalayas in Northern India. Her story follows the tale of Aloka and Sujata, the daughters of plantation owner Bir and granddaughters of Nitya-Shobana 'Nina' Gupta. Aloka, the elder of the two is the indulged pretty one. Sujata, the younger, is the tea aficionado with a prickly disposition. Aloka falls in love with Pranab, the fiery, young revolutionary manager of her father's estates, whilst he in turn seduces Sujata and creates the classic love triangle.

On discovery of their affair, Sujata is banished to British Columbia, Canada by her patriarchal grandmother, who then has to sell her own jewellery to save the life of the other protagonist, Pranab. This is the weakest point of the novel. Kirchner has used almost Bollywood-esque plots to transport the love triangle from the evocative imagery of Darjeeling to the grey concrete of North America. Reminiscent of the love triangle in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's 'Sister of My Heart', the reader is then given a supposedly insightful view into the culture clash of Indians in America.

However, Kirchner's prose is nowhere as poignant or as descriptive in New York, presumably the urban landscape does not fire the imagination quite as much as the Kanchenjunga Hills of the Himalayas! And we see the dissolution of her characters into soulless, aimless and self-pitying individuals incapable of connecting with fellow Indians except through aliases and assume personalities.

Aloka, Sujata and Pranab's return to Darjeeling is a welcome relief for the reader. Summoned by grandmother 'Nina' to help celebrate her eight-first birthday, all three come back with anxious anticipation of whether they can turn their lives around. Nina, like all well meaning but interfering mothers plans to settle her grand daughters in Darjeeling. Aloka, whilst still in love with Pranab dreads the rekindling of his love affair with her sister, Sujata. Meanwhile, Sujata who has become a successful tea importer in Canada has not yet found Mr Right. Anticipation helps Pranab recapture his youthful exuberance and he vows to win Sujata back.

Late in the novel, Kirchner introduces two new suitors. Mreenal Bose is captivated by Sujata's intelligence and strength of character. Meanwhile Jahar meets Aloka in New York under her assumed name of Parveen. So not only do the three principal characters return to their homeland, they bring personal "baggage" along with them. The reader is desperate to know if a love triangle can ever be "straightened out".

This book is in many ways a "rights of passage" tale of two Indian girls and the events that shape their lives. Despite weakening the heart of the story by dislocating the characters to North America, Bharti Kirchner has written a compulsive story of majestic beauty. When describing the town, the plantation and the beauty of the Kanchenjunga hills, Kirchner is drawing from personal experience. The love triangle is almost a cliché now, the matriarchal rule of the plantation less well explored. That and the dramatic of the setting of this book make it worth reading.

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About Bharti Kirchner

Bharti Kirchner became interested in tea when, as a young girl, her family bought a small tea estate in the hills of Tripura, India near Darjeeling. The early morning sound of the tea pickers singing as they plucked the young shoots stayed with her and inspired her to become a tea connoisseur. On a recent trip back to Darjeeling, she was surprised to learn that many of the growing and processing techniques have not changed from when she was a girl. Kirchner has taken her knowledge and love of tea and used it as a shaping force for her novel 'Darjeeling' which is about the trials and tribulations about the Gupta family. It is also about how everything in their lives is influenced by the all encompassing and arduous process of growing tea.

Bharti Kirchner is the author of six books. Her first novel, SHIVA DANCING (Dutton 1998) received critical acclaim and was selected as one the top eighteen books by a Seattle author in the last 25 years. Her second novel, SHARMILA'S BOOK was published in 1999 by Dutton.

An award winning cook, Bharti is the author or four cookbooks. Her second, INDIAN INSPIRED (1993) was selected as one of the top ten cookbooks of 1993. Her first, THE HEALTHY CUISINE OF INDIA (1992) was named by Food Arts magazine as one of the best cookbooks of 1992. Her two most recent cookbooks are THE BOLD VEGETARIAN (1995) and VEGETARIAN BURGERS (1996). Bharti has written over 70 articles on food, travel and fitness in magazines and is a freelance book reviewer for The Seattle Times.

Born in India, Bharti migrated to the United States for higher studies. She holds B.S and M.S degrees in Mathematics from Calcutta University. She is a graduate of University of Washington's non-fiction writing program. Her career in the computer industry includes an advisory systems engineer position for IBM for 6½ years. She lives in Seattle, USA with her husband.

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