Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #322587 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-09
• Released on: 2005-06-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Bajwa dramatically illustrates the class gap in contemporary India in her debut novel, focusing on the fortunes of Ramchand, a lowly, disaffected clerk in a popular sari shop. The novel opens with Ramchand happily going about his duties serving the shop's mostly upper-class clients. Opportunity for advancement comes from an unlikely source when he attracts the attention of the beautiful, literate Rina Kapoor, whose family hires the shop to provide saris for her upcoming wedding. Inspired by his foray into a wider world ("there were cars and flowerpots and frosted glass trays with peacocks on them"), Ramchand embarks on a half-baked self-improvement effort that includes a reading program and some unintentionally comic attempts to learn English. Shortly afterwards, though, Ramchand sees the other side of Indian life when the wife of one of his co-workers, a woman named Kamla, descends into public drunkenness. Ramchand is a tenderly drawn character, reminiscent of Naipaul's innocent strivers, and the rest of the cast is vividly sketched. There are several typical first-novel flaws: the narrative is slow in the first half, and Bajwa's transitions between her character-driven subplots are occasionally uneven and erratic. But Bajwa's loving attention to detail—Ramchand washing his feet with lemon juice before he visits the Kapoors, the malicious chatter of the sari-shopping ladies—paints a compelling, acerbic picture of urban India.
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From Booklist
The Sevak Sari House in Bajwa's resonant first novel is a microcosm of its surrounding town, Amritsar, and perhaps of all of India. Ramchand, a shop assistant, seems content selling saris to wealthy matrons and their daughters. But when he is sent to the opulent home of the Kapoors with stacks of saris for them to scrutinize, he experiences his first hints of discontent. Vowing to educate himself to better his place in society, Ramchand purchases some used grammar books and a dictionary, through which he plods in his off hours. He is brought back to reality when he is again sent outside the shop, this time to a co-worker's shack. Stunned by the poverty and degradation he finds there, Ramchand plunges into a deep depression over the world's inequities. After a brief and courageous outburst aimed at his higher-ups, he retreats to his old compliant self, stuck in a rut that is at least secure. Biting humor, perceptive social commentary, and the poetic telling of a poignant tale combine for an exceptional debut. Deborah Donovan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Disappointing debut
With a great title and subject, it's too bad Bajwa couldn't turn out a novel of greater interest and skill. Ramchand, the main character, is just not interesting enough to carry the weight of the story, and his central perspective limits the story's range. Her most believable characters were the middle-class ladies; they could have appeared more prominently. Her upper-class belles were soap-opera concoctions. A Fine Balance, The Namesake and Brick Lane all have far more merit.

Understated Elegance
In this debut novel by Rupa Bajwa, the story starts in a slow, languorous way, but soon picks up in tempo. Her descriptions are vivid. I actually saw the rows of small houses cluttered together by the narrow lanes of the old Amritsar as I read the novel. Written in simple, clear prose, the book oozes understated elegance. It also reminded me of a vast, dark pond, its water calm, still and ripple-free as on a windless day, but with deep, hidden undercurrents that pull the readers in effortlessly and drown them in her magical world. Ms. Bajwa understands the human heart. Long after I finished the novel, her Ramchand still lingers in my mind. That India is teeming with millions of Ramachands is a sobering thought. She is a truly gifted writer with a smooth voice. I did not come across a single shrill sentence. An astounding first novel.

"When you explore life, you also explore yourself."
Ramchand has obediently worked as a clerk at the Sevak Sari House in the city of Amritsar, India for eleven years; alternating his time between the Sari shop located in the city's old bazaar and his one room apartment with minimal possessions. His simple life, however, takes a drastic turn when he is ordered to take a selection of saris by bicycle to a prosperous family who is preparing for their eldest daughter's wedding. Upon entering this strange new world of extravagant automobiles, air conditioning, servants, and wall-to-wall plush carpet Ramchand's mind goes in a tailspin. He has never encountered such luxury before and is deeply affected.

From this point forward Ramchand's consciousness is awakened to the issues of class that surround him in his everyday life. He becomes interested in the lives of the various woman who visit the sari shop and listen to their conversations revealing their affluent lifestyles and snobbery attitudes towards others. At the same time, and also at the other end of the class spectrum, he becomes acquainted with the dire situation of his co-worker and his wife who reside in a tin shack in a poor section of the city. Ramchand's experiences quickly led him into a dizzying philosophical journey with potential serious ramifications for many.

While THE SARI SHOP contains an engaging and highly entertaining plot, Rupa Bajwa's prose is often uneven and lacks a clear direction, especially towards the middle, that can possibly attributed to this being her debut novel. Hopefully her writing skills will improve and she will continue to publish thought-provoking books with memorable characters in the near future. Recommended, especially for those who enjoy Indian literature.