Nair, Anita

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NAIR, Anita

PERSONAL: Born in Shoranur, Kerala, India; married; husband's name Suresh; children: one son. Education: NSS Ottapalam, Kerala, India, B.A. Hobbies and other interests: Gourmet food, painting, piano, Kathakali dancing.

ADDRESSES: Home—Bangalore, India. Agent—Laura Susijn, The Susijn Agency, 820 Harrow Rd., London NW10 5JU, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Worked as a writer for ASIDE and City Tab; later worked in real estate and exhibition design. Wrote advertising copy for twelve years, working for Contract, Clarion, O&M Direct, MAA, and MASS, Bangalore, India.

AWARDS, HONORS: Virginia Center for Creative Arts fellowship.

WRITINGS:

Satyr of the Subway: And Eleven Other Stories, Har-Anand Publications (New Delhi, India), 1997.

The Better Man, Picador (New York, NY), 2000.

Ladies Coupé: A Novel in Parts, Penguin (London, England), 2001, St. Martin's Griffin (New York, NY), 2004.

(Editor) Where the Rain is Born: Writing about Kerala, Penguin (New York, NY), 2002.

Malabar Mind (poems), Yeti Books (Calicut, India), 2002.

Nair's poem "Happenings in the London Underground" was published in a poetry anthology by the Poetry Society of India, 1992; other poetry published in a British Council Poetry Workshop anthology. Contributor to the Times of India, Man's World, and India Today. Columnist for New Indian Express. Nair's work has been translated into French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Spanish, and Dutch.

SIDELIGHTS: Novelist Anita Nair worked for twelve years writing advertising copy before she was able to devote herself to the self-described addiction of writing. The author of Satyr of the Subway: And Eleven Other Stories, The Better Man, and Ladies Coupé: A Novel in Parts was born in the remote region of Kerala, India, and raised in Madras (now Chennai). She returned to Kerala at seventeen and attended a small college there. Though she is now based in Bangalore, it is Kerala that serves as the most frequent setting for her work. Nair has said that she loves to immerse herself in the experiences of characters unlike herself, such as the retired businessman in The Better Man or the spinster in Ladies Coupé. The earlier book became the first novel by an Indian-based writer to be published in the United States. Nair declined to make changes to Ladies Coupé in order to tailor it for American readers.

Nair's debut novel, The Better Man, centers on the bachelor Mukundan Nair, who retires to his birthplace in a remote village in Kerala. He originally left to avoid his abusive father, but hopes to prove his worth to the village elders. He lives in a house inherited from his mother and now inhabited by her ghost, who mourns that he did not save her from his father or from falling down the stairs to her death. A house painter and healer called One-Screw-Loose Bhasi befriends Mukundan and quietly helps him overcome the emotional scars of his childhood. As a result, Mukundan begins a secret relationship with the schoolteacher Anjana, who is divorcing the husband who deserted her. But the relationship falls under the critical eye of local leaders, who also hope that Mukundan will help them gain control of land owned by Bhasi.

A popular and critical hit in India, The Better Man earned positive critical responses in the United States, though some found flaws in it. In a review for the New York Times, for example, Kit Reed wrote that the novel is hampered by an aimless manner and disjointed components. He called it "a genial, meandering tale filled with false alarms and diversions" and concluded, "Charming as it is, the novel gathers momentum only at the end, when Bhasi and Mukundan find themselves at odds just in time for the drama of conflict and resolution." Library Journal contributor Faye A. Chadwell, however, was riveted by the question of whether Mukundan or Bhasi is the "better man." Chadwell enthusiastically commented that "this imaginative debut will delight with its remarkable grace, unforced humor, and elegantly descriptive prose." She also credited the novel with proving its declaration that "within everything rests a power to ignite." In Booklist, Bonnie Johnston called The Better Man a "vibrant first novel" and "a passionate yet introspective story." A Publishers Weekly reviewer, who admired the "charming" novel, asserted, "Nair has the magical ability to make all of her readers feel, briefly, like Kaikurussi villagers in this humorous, imaginative, and gracefully written novel."

In Nair's second novel, Ladies Coupé, the author immerses the reader in a place exclusively for women, the now nonexistent ladies' compartment, or coupé, on Indian trains. Protagonist Akhila is a forty-five-year-old tax department employee who has taken care of her family since her father's early death. Her responsibilities as the first-born have caused her to abandon her own aspirations and interests in order to nurture her siblings. Ungrateful, they now dismiss her as an ineffectual spinster. Feeling trapped by her life, she impulsively embarks on a trip to a resort at the farthest point in India. She finds herself traveling overnight in a ladies coupé with five other women. Each proves to have a radically different life story, with a variety of social, economic, and family pressures. Janaki, an elderly woman, tells how a visit from her son convinced her that her children were unconscionably selfish, and that she should live only for her husband and not her offspring. Teenage Sheela still mourns the death of her grandmother, a proud and imperious woman, who recently died. Margaret, a chemistry teacher, reveals how she took revenge on her tyrant of a husband, who was probably also a pervert as well. Prabha, a wife and mother from a wealthy family, recounts how the simple act of learning to swim restored her independence to her. Mari, who was raped when she was a teenager, reveals the hatred she felt for the son she bore afterward, and tells of her shame and regret for the mistreatment she heaped upon him. Intertwined with these stories are episodes of Akhila's own, such as her short affair with a younger man named Haft; a Christian friend who introduced her to eggs, a food thought unclean by her Hindu family; and her unsuccessful attempts to live independently after her mother's death. By the time the train arrives at its destination and all the stories are told, Akhila knows what she must do, and is ready to take action.

Several reviewers recommended the work for its deft portrayal of ordinary lives. Urvashi Butalia commented in a review for the Hindustan Times online, "Nair's low-key, sometimes funny and sometimes hard-hitting book, is not earthshaking but is definitely worth a read." In an article for Masala.com, A. Nayak remarked on the wide range of personal stories told in the coupé, concluding that "all are poignant and indelible." Nayak observed that given its premise, the book could "easily become a treatise on the social status of women, but Nair's story-telling style saves it from becoming a commentary on women's lib." Geeta Doctor, writing for India Today on the Net, also found a delicate balance in the novel, in which Nair illuminates the struggle of a typical middle-class family as well as the revelations of Akhila and her companions. "The manner in which Nair relates these transformations is in turn revelatory and redeeming," Doctor concluded. Nair "shows great understanding and compassion for all women and for the choices and regrets they cannot avoid," concluded Janet St. John in Booklist.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2000, Bonnie Johnston, review of The Better Man, p. 1730; June 1, 2004, Janet St. John, review of Ladies Coupé: A Novel in Parts, p. 1704.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2004, review of Ladies Coupé, p. 418.

Library Journal, July, 2000, Faye A. Chadwell, review of The Better Man, p. 141; June 15, 2004, Andrea Kempf, review of Ladies Coupé, p. 60.

New York Times, August 13, 2000, Kit Reed, review of The Better Man, p. 23.

Publishers Weekly, April 24, 2000, review of The Better Man, p. 56.

Seattle Times, August 20, 2000, Bharti Kirchner, "'Obedient Father,' 'Better Man' Portray Very Different Indian Men."