A SUITABLE BOY

A SUITABLE BOY
- VIKRAM SETH

Vikram Seth is one of the most celebrated Indian writers in English. Seth was born to Leila and Prem Seth in Calcutta (now Kolkata).Vikram Seth attended St Michael's High School in Patna, Welham Boys' School and The Doon School in Dehra Dun. He is renowned as a poet and a novelist. His first novel ‘The Golden Gate’ is written in verse. ‘A Suitable Boy’ is the second novel by Seth.
The government of India has honoured Vikram Seth with the Padma Shri in 2007. Also in 2005 he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman.


The novel ‘A Suitable Boy’ narrates the story of a mother’s search for a suitable match for her daughter. The mother is Mrs.Rupa Mehra and the daughter Lata. There is no single character to be considered as the protagonist as each character has his own role to play. The novel opens with the wedding of Savita Mehra, elder sister of Lata Mehra and Pran Kapoor. The novel is divided into 19 parts each part laying its focus on a different theme or character. The novel is set in the post- independence period in the imaginary town of Brahmpur. References are also made of Delhi, Calcutta, etc. Apart from telling the story of a few families and its members, the novel also provides an overview of the society and the customs and taboos prevalent during the period.

Mrs. Rupa Mehra had lost her husband. She has four children, Arun, Savita, Varun and Lata. Arun is married to Meenakshi Chatterjee (against the will of his mother) and has a daughter, Aparna, who is her granny’s darling. They are staying in Bengal. Arun is very arrogant and short tempered person .Savita’s husband Pran Kapoor is the faculty of English in the Brahmpur University where Lata is studying. He is described as a weak man with repeated attacks of asthma. Varun is staying with his brother in Calcutta and is studying Mathematics. He is rather a timid character. Lata the youngest of the Mehra family is good in studies and is very much controlled by her mother. Her best friend is the bold, smart and outspoken Malati. We also have Veena Tandon, the sister of Pran Kapoor, married to the shoe merchant, Kedarnath Tandon. She has a son Bhaskar who is a genius in Mathematics. There is Maan Kapoor, brother of Pran, doing business in Benaras and is soon to be married.

In the course of the story, Lata’s acquaintance with Kabir Durrani, a student of history and the son of a faculty member of mathematics, creates problems. Kabir is a cricketer and their relation soon develops into a love and they decide to marry. But Lata is damn sure that her mother will not accept the proposal of a Muslim boy. Thus, Kabir emerges to be the first suitor of Lata. The response of Mrs. Rupa Mehra towards a Muslim friend of her daughter clearly shows the wide gap existent between the Hindus and Muslims of the period. The people of the times believed that the two communities were totally different with respect to their believes and customs. The fact remains that things have not changed much in this 21st century. The paradox emerges when we find that the cook at the Hindu family is a Muslim.

During the days of festivities another character comes into light. Saeeda Bai Firoshbadi the gazhal singer, who has a lot of fan following. She is invited to the Mr. Kapoor’s house for singing and soon Maan Kapoor becomes a admirer of Saeeda Bai. Thereupon, Maan’s life takes new turns. The chapters describing the life and ways of Saeeda Bai, presents a picture of the luxurious life led by the Maharajas and the rich class of the society during that period. The world of alcohol, singing, dancing and other luxuries unravels.

Another social scene is one of the partition and its impacts. Kedarnath Tandon used to be a resident of Karachi and he often remembers with horror the last days spent in Pakistan. They had to face lot brutalities before reaching India. He also remembers the difficulties faced in establishing a livelihood in India. The political scenario also gets a space in the novel with Mr. Kapoor and his friends. Also the Kapoor’s have a good relationship with the family of Nawab Khan. In fact, Nawab’s son Firoz Khan is the close friend of Maan Kapoor. They enjoy each others company more than anything else.

As of Lata, two more suitors are in line. One is Meenakshi’s brother, novelist, Amit Chatterjee and another is Haresh Khanna, a shoe businessman. Finally, towards the end of the novel Mrs. Rupa Mehra is successful in finding an ideal match for her daughter. Also there has been a change in the career graph of Varun Mehra, resulting in a great change in his character also.

According to Leila Seth, as remarked by her in the autobiography, all the characters in the novel are a composite of various persons, but for Haresh Khanna, who she believes is the true depiction of her husband, Prem Seth.

‘A Suitable Boy’ is among the longest novel written in the English language in a single volume. This four family saga (Mehras, Kapoors, Chatterjees and Khans) runs more than thousand pages. Despite being long it was one of the best sellers in the Indian English literature. A sequel to this work, ‘A Suitable Girl’, wherein Lata is in search of a girl for her grandson is expected to be released in 2013.