5 days ago
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- Hindustan Times
Review: Shape of an Apostrophe by Uttama Kirit Patel
Uttama Kirit Patel's Shape of an Apostrophe is a novel which enjoys making the reader aware of the trauma-related baggage that human beings carry with them, their correspondent responses and coping mechanisms, and how it all shows up in the most unexpected ways in the choices we make. The narrative opens with the newly wed protagonist Lina, who lives in the UAE, and is full of doubts about fulfilling what society considers her inescapable biological destiny as a woman – to become a mother. Having recently lost her doting father who raised her as a single parent, she is struggling to express and come to terms with her grief even as she encounters the innumerable ways in which a woman's body is made the subject of constant interrogation in a patriarchal society, particularly one that thrives on the control of female desire. This is made manifest through Lina's experiences in her in-laws' palatial home where she now lives. It also comes across through her dead mother's musings during her own pregnancy, and through the many tribulations faced by Shobha, the daughter of Raja, the family caretaker. Palace as prison: Shape of an Apostrophe examines the innumerable ways in which a woman's body is made the subject of constant interrogation in a patriarchal society. (Shutterstock)
287pp, ₹455; Hachette India
This is not to say that the novel is a heavy read. Patel adopts a tone that is simultaneously humorous and tragic as she depicts the trials of everyday existence for women across social strata in a postmodern world. This is particularly true in the moments when Lina navigates through her own pregnancy without the guidance of a stable maternal figure. At a meeting of a mothers group called Calm Palm Parents, she wanted to ask 'whether labour would rip the lips of her vagina ten feet apart'. But the very thought of uttering the V word calls to mind the wait staff at her in-laws' dinner parties; people 'crucial to the spectacle yet too dirty to touch silverware without gloves'.
The author has a way with words and the narrative tone is both witty and devastating in its truth telling. The book's title itself refers to Lina's description of a girl she met while dispersing her father's ashes at Haji Ali in Mumbai: '[she] is the shape of an apostrophe, that little symbol which stood in the place of letters that had disappeared'. The prose takes on a slow rhythmic cadence where Lina is introspecting about her art, musing about the Indian diaspora in the UAE, and thinking back to the earlier days of her relationship with Ishaan, who is now her husband. But in the sections where she encounters resistance from her mother-in-law, Meenakshi, (whose perspective is also shared) about the life choices she makes and how she feels about living in a place that never quite feels like home, the prose becomes heavy, even claustrophobic. This reflection of Lina's mental landscape shows up in the portions about the life stories of Shobha and Meenakshi too.
Author Uttama Kirit Patel (Courtesy the publisher)
At the beginning of the narrative, Patel shares a note explaining that there are 'two ways to read a story' and urges the reader to carry this notion ahead as they delve deeper into the fictional universe that she has created. However, what you encounter is not a straightforward examination of the duality that characterises the human experience but the presentation of a multiplicity of perspectives, all of which seem valid and worthy of empathy. In the end, apart from Patel's beautiful prose, it is this acuity that makes Shape of an Apostrophe a rewarding read.
Simar Bhasin is a literary critic and research scholar who lives in Delhi. Her essay 'A Qissa of Resistance: Desire and Dissent in Selma Dabbagh's Short Fiction' was awarded 'Highly Commended' by the Wasafiri Essay Prize 2024.
