Bengal Nights by Mircea Elaide (Published 1933)
It Does Not Die by Maitreyi Devi. (Published 1974)
Mircea Eliade is a Romanian who visited India in 1930, falls ill, is invited by his Guru to live at his home in Calcutta, falls in love with his mentor's daughter, Amrita. Their love affair gets discovered. He gets thrown out of the house and is warned to not talk to Amrita ever again. She calls him, writes to him, but he does not respond. He becomes a Sanyasi, studies some more Indian texts, and then returns back home and writes this novel in 1934 which becomes a best-seller. He calls this book a fiction.
Amrita (also Maitreyi devi) in 1972 discovers that the book written by Mircea includes sexual encounters which are not true. Now married, with kids, and grand-kids, she sets to write her own perspective. Now, it is a recollection of events from 42 years ago. She also recalls falling in love with Mircea, exchanging few kisses, no sexual encounters. When Mircea leaves, Maitreyi is devastated. She withdraws herself, blames her mother, her father, eventually marries, movs out of Calcutta, re-discovers how to find joy in life, but is still reminded of her affair. She and her husband live in isolation, surrounded by other English folks, but once Rabindranath Tagore visits, he gives her meaning and then she lives her own life. She visits Europe few times, is made aware of the book on her, tries to contact Mircea there but he does not respond. In 1972, she decided to give him a surprise visit, and they talk. The book does not share more about this.
Amirtia's story and book is far better written that Mircea's one. Mircea's is a book to provide context of his daily diary which he maintained. He sometimes shares his dairy entry verbatim, this gives them a flair of truth. Which he uses to extrapolate the affair to include sex. His is also a mini commentary of other Europeans and English folks occupying India and how their manners are different from Indians. He is considered an outcast since he is living with Indians.
I read through the first book only to read the second one. The rashomon style story - one incident, two tellings, 42 years apart, piqued my interest. I was eager to get to the second one. I thought that Maitreyi will contradict a lot of Mircea's versions. She doesn't.
Amritya did fall in love with Mircea. In Mircea's version, his love is not returned equally. He is vocal, Amrita is reticent. He confesses his feelings, lays them at her feet. He also imagines that he is being asked to live there so that they can get married. He is definitely convinced about their relationship. However, he writes that his feelings are not reciprocated.
Amrita's version explains the why. She is a teenager, he is in twenties. She is Indian, he is not. Indian girls do not choose their husbands, they do not have love marriages, their parents arrange relationships. Indian girls do not kiss before marriage, do not hang out with boys/men, it is a conservative culture. Mircea's culture is more open. She questions whether this relationship will be accepted by her parents, her broader family. She questions whether this is true love or her first infatuation. Both of them are curious beings - both in life and in this relationship.
Amirta's book goes deeper into her feelings. It is amazing how much she can recollect 42 years later. The episodes are fresh in her mind. She is also a budding poet and has a good command of language, it shows in her writings.
She confirms the lover in her book She confirms many of the things that I read first in Mircea's book - the cab rides to lake, the Bengali/French lessons, the touching of feet under the dinner table, many small details. In a society where touching and kissing is tabboo, sex is out of question. She is devastated when he leaves abruptly. She is locked and goes through a grief. Not able to follow what is going on, unable to contact him. She writes but her letters are not responded. But later we learn that Mircea wrote back but the go-between guy, Khoka, did not pass them back to her.
Rabindranath Tagore is a family friend and is also a confidante of her. She confides in him her grief, and his words offer her solace and strength to move on. It is interesting how simple words of understanding, of acknowledging the pain, provide so much comfort.
She gets married without looking at her husband. We are in chapter two now. Here she describes her post-marriage life. This is fascinating to read. She is content with her marriage, her husband is a progressive, yet she has not completely lost her yearning of Mircea. It takes a while. She busies herself in running the house, having kids. She invites Rabindranath Tagore (the poet) and he visits their place thrice in three years, at his old age. Their house is peaceful. When the poet visits, he encourages Amrita to mingle with the workers. She organizes a feast for them and them turns them into her broader family.
Back at her parents place, over time, her anger towards them subsides. Initially, they were the villains who pushed Mircea away. But over time, as life goes on, she forgives them. Holding grudges only brings unhappiness. But people get what they sow. His father falls in love with his secretary Maya (name changed). Maya side-steps the mother, makes decisions for the household etc, you get the picture. Eventually, father marries Maya and the mother is forced to live in penury, helped by Amrita. Maya also takes the father's money. The father in his old age, when he gets sick, Maya runs out and he is living alone. He hopes to patch with the mother but he passes before that.
Chapter three is when Amrita gets to know about the sex stuff in Mircea'a book. She starts to write her version. She also shares this part of her life with her husband, only to find him supportive and caring. She tries to arrange money and VISA to travel to Europe to see Mircea.
We discover here that Mircea has held positions of important, in governments, over few years. He is also an expert in Hindu scriptures, has translated Upanishads. He also has held fascist views and over time has evolved into a different person. Yet, he often talks about Amrita with everyone. He is now a retired university professor or something.
Chapter four is when they both meet again. In the book, it is shared as one meeting but in practice they met a few times during that week. He refuses to look at her, keeps his eyes down, but then slowly opens up. He says he has moved on but its a lie, he wants to save the image he has of her.
I do not remember if he answers her question on why he lied in his book.
The book has a backdrop of Indian independence struggle, and how the elite of the society viewed it (from the sidelines, no active participation like we do today's protests) . Book has a subtext of how a metro city worked during that time. How Englishmen viewed Indians and how Shantiniketan/the-poet established a centre of cultural excellence. How he challenged views and made this into a wholesome place.
But above all, it is a love story. A fascinating love story told with a candid, retrospective tone that is so refreshing to read.
Bengal Nights by Mircea Elaide (Published 1933) - 2.5/5
It Does Not Die by Maitreyi Devi. (Published 1974) - 3.5/5
Both together is 4/5 specially when you understand the broader context.
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