Skip to main content

The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar: book review





The World We Found: A Novel (2012) is set in Bombay (Mumbai) in the 1970s and in the present day (30 years later).

In the 1970s, during their four years at college, four girls have a strong friendship. Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta – and Laleh’s boyfriend Adish, and Nishta’s boyfriend Iqbal – are all young, rebellious, and free. After college, they lead their own separate lives.

Thirty years later, Armaiti is living in America, divorced from her husband, Richard, five years ago, with her daughter Diane. Nearly 50, Armaiti has been diagnosed with a tumor. She doesn’t want to undergo treatment. Her doctor says she has about six months left. Richard returns to help her through her illness. Armaiti’s final wish is to see her three girlfriends again.

Laleh is married to Adish, a wealthy businessman, with two children, Ferzin and Farhad. Nishta is married to Iqbal. Iqbal, who once wore ‘bright floral shirts over tight jeans’ is now an Imam and works in an electrical shop. Kavita, a well-known architect, is unmarried, looking after her mother, with a friend and work colleague, Ingrid, whom she has known for 15 years.

Laleh feels responsible for Armaiti’s illness, believing it resulted from an incident during a protest rally in the 1970s. Each of them have different recollections about their college days and their political and social interests.

In Bombay, Laleh and Kavita quickly reunite to accept Armaiti’s proposal to visit her in America. They must find Nishta so that they can travel together as ‘Armaiti’s gift’ before time runs out. They enlist Adish’s help and the assistance of Iqbal’s sister, Mumtaz.

The airport scene is gripping. It is where ‘the world slowed down, became a movie shot in slow motion … Sound, too, seemed to have become muffled, long-drawn, distorted, a record playing at the wrong speed …’

This is a story about resilient friendships amongst women, solidarity in adversity, the men’s relationship with each other after years apart, internal relationships between partners, interfaith marriages, and family bonds and loyalties. All have their secrets and all have feelings for each other. All have changed over time, some more than others.



MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...
1 comment
Read more

Shindi: the Georgian Cornelian cherry

The Cornelian cherry – shindi in Georgian – is a fruit with medicinal and decorative properties. It was grown from ancient times, according to the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). It is also commonly called the European cornel. It is native to southern Europe from France to Ukraine as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. The Cornelian cherry tree ( Cornus mas ) can be grown in orchards, but it is often seen in the forests of Georgia where it grows up to 1,350 metres above sea level. It is a medium to large deciduous tree, growing from 5-12 metres tall. The flowers are small with four yellow petals in clusters, which flower in February and March. The Cornus mas has three botanical varieties: (1) var. typica Sanadze with cylindrical red fruits, (2) var. pyriformis Sanadze with pear-shaped red fruits, and (3) var. flava vest with yellow fruits. The fruits are oblong red drupes about 2 centimetres ...
Post a Comment
Read more