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A Reader’s Guide

“Anita Desai is one of the mostbrilliant and subtle writers everto have described the meeting ofeastern and western culture.”— Alison Lurie

“India’s finest writer in English.”— The Independent

MARINER BOOKSHOUGHTON MIFFL IN COMPANY

FASTING, FEASTINGISBN 0-618-06582-2 • $13.00

234pp. • 5 1/2 x 8 1/4

DIAMOND DUST: STORIESISBN 0-618-04213-X • $12.00

192pp. • 5 1/2 x 8 1/4

Anita Desai was born Anita Mazumdar, in northern India’s Mussoorie,in 1937. With a German mother and Bengali father, she and her sistersand brother grew up in Old Delhi, speaking German at home, Hindiwith friends and neighbors, and English at school. Her formal educa-tion began at the Queen Mary’s School and she went on to receive herB.A. from the University of Delhi.

Married in December 1958, Desai began writing during timessalvaged from house, husband, and children. Her first novel, Cry, thePeacock (1963) introduced a theme that would remain a constant in herfiction—the suppression and oppression of Indian women. It was fol-lowed by Voices in the City (1965), Bye-Bye, Blackbird (1968), WhereShall We Go This Summer? (1973), and Fire on the Mountain (1977),the first of her novels to be published in the United States. The latterreceived both India’s National Academy of Letters Award (SahityaAkademi) and the Royal Society of Literature’s Winifred Holtby Prize.A collection of stories, Games at Twilight (1978), followed and then achildren’s book, The Peacock Garden (1979). Clear Light of Day(1980) was the first of Desai’s novels to be shortlisted for Britain’sBooker Prize, joined in 1984 by In Custody (also a Merchant-Ivoryfilm) and, in 1999, by Fasting, Feasting. Baumgartner’s Bombay(1988), a Hadassah Prize winner, and Journey to Ithaca (1995) roundout the list of her published novels. Desai’s prizes extend to theGuardian Prize for Children’s Fiction for her book, The Village by theSea (1982).

Desai resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is a pro-fessor in MIT’s Writing and Humanistic Studies Program; inCambridge, England, where she has been a visiting fellow of GirtonCollege and Clare Hall; in New Delhi; and in Tepoztlan, Mexico, thesetting of her story “Tepoztlan Tomorrow” and her next novel. She is afellow of the Royal Society of Literature in London and a member ofthe American Academy of Arts and Letters.

ANITA DESAI

For additional copies of this Reader’s Guide—while supplies last—contact your Houghton Mifflin

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ISBN 0-618-06733-7 (pack of 10 Reader’s Guides)TITLE # 5-99043

Produced by Hal Hager & Associates, Somerville, NJAuthor photo: © The Independent/Philip Meech

ANITA DESAI

FASTING, FEASTING

DIAMOND DUST: STORIES

In these nine radiant new stories, Anita Desai continues her peerless explo-ration of the tensions between social obligation and personal indepen-dence, the complex dynamics of families, and the clash between the oldand the new. Traveling from India to Canada and on to Mexico, she deftly captures our struggles against cultural and emotional constraints.

Desai’s range is astonishing. In the title story, a civil servant’s devo-tion to his dog leads to tragedy. In “Royalty,” a long-married couple’splans are thwarted by the arrival of an old friend. In “Winterscape,” anIndian man brings his mother and aunt to Canada for his first child’s birth.The owner of the small English seaside hotel in “Underground” spends hisevenings feeding a family of badgers. Young Polly of “The Artist’s Life”finds her illusions shattered by her parents’ unkempt tenant. In “TepoztlanTomorrow,” a U.S.-educated man returns to his native village to find itsresidents—and himself—much as they were when he left but caught up insome entirely new causes. And in “The Rooftop Dwellers,” a youngwoman from a small provincial city struggles to make a career and a lifeof freedom for herself in Delhi.

These collected stories are a splendid addition to Anita Desai’s dis-tinguished career. And—together with Fasting, Feasting and MarinerBooks’ reissue of her classic novel, Baumgartner’s Bombay—they mark aformidable addition to Houghton Mifflin’s list of world-class authors.

“[Desai] has much to say in this graceful, supple novel …”— Publishers Weekly

From an Indian summer’s sun and dust to a New England summer’s“white heat,” Fasting, Feasting examines the intricate web of family con-flict and security on two continents. Anita Desai’s eleventh novel—herthird to be shortlisted for Britain’s Booker Prize—is the moving story ofUma, the plain and awkward older daughter of an Indian family, and ofher younger brother, Arun, attending college in Massachusetts. With thefavored son away at college and her younger sister married, Uma is littlemore than an unpaid servant to her tyrannical parents. She persists, how-ever, in her search for beauty and freedom.

Across the world, Arun is bewildered by American college life,especially by the ways of the Pattons, with whom he spends the summer.Mr. Patton’s devotion to red meat, Mrs. Patton’s commitment to a well-stocked kitchen, their son Rod’s dedication to physical fitness, and daugh-ter Melanie’s bulimia confuse and frighten Arun and move him to reassesseverything he has ever taken for granted.

Hailed in Britain as “rich in the sensuous atmosphere, elegiacpathos and bleak comedy at which the author excels” (The Spectator),Fasting, Feasting brilliantly confirms Anita Desai’s place among today’sforemost writers in English.

BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST

“Desai has a remarkable eye . . .for the things that give lifetexture.” — New York Times

A MARINER ORIGINAL

Glossary (continued)

paisa (H) a small-denomination coin, equal to 1/100 of arupee in India

pipal tree (H) a fig tree of India, also called “bo” tree, sacredto Buddhists; traditionally regarded as the treeunder which the Buddha attained enlightenment

plumbago a plant bearing clusters of variously coloredflowers. English: leadwort

puri (H) a light, flat wheat cake, usually fried in deep fatQuièro es? (M) Who’s there?Ramayana an ancient Sanskrit epic poem relating the

adventures of Ramachandra, an incarnation ofVishnu; regarded by Hindus as sacred

sahib (H) a title of respect, similar to “Mister,” “Sir,” or“Master”

salwars (U) loose trousers tied with drawstringssamosa a small pastry turnover filled with a spicy meat

or vegetable mixturesardar-ji (H) a Sikh, the added “-ji” a term of respectsari (H) the principal outer garment, formal or casual, of

a Hindu womanShiva the Hindu god of destruction and reproduction,

a member of the supreme Hindu trinity (alongwith Brahma and Vishnu)

slokas (S) Sanskrit versessri (S) Mr. or Sirsucio (M) dirtytonga (H) a two-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage

www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com 1 of 4 Copyright (c) 2003 Houghton Mifflin Company, All Rights Reserved


A Reader’s Guide

“Anita Desai is one of the mostbrilliant and subtle writers everto have described the meeting ofeastern and western culture.”— Alison Lurie

“India’s finest writer in English.”— The Independent

MARINER BOOKSHOUGHTON MIFFL IN COMPANY

FASTING, FEASTINGISBN 0-618-06582-2 • $13.00

234pp. • 5 1/2 x 8 1/4

DIAMOND DUST: STORIESISBN 0-618-04213-X • $12.00

192pp. • 5 1/2 x 8 1/4

Anita Desai was born Anita Mazumdar, in northern India’s Mussoorie,in 1937. With a German mother and Bengali father, she and her sistersand brother grew up in Old Delhi, speaking German at home, Hindiwith friends and neighbors, and English at school. Her formal educa-tion began at the Queen Mary’s School and she went on to receive herB.A. from the University of Delhi.

Married in December 1958, Desai began writing during timessalvaged from house, husband, and children. Her first novel, Cry, thePeacock (1963) introduced a theme that would remain a constant in herfiction—the suppression and oppression of Indian women. It was fol-lowed by Voices in the City (1965), Bye-Bye, Blackbird (1968), WhereShall We Go This Summer? (1973), and Fire on the Mountain (1977),the first of her novels to be published in the United States. The latterreceived both India’s National Academy of Letters Award (SahityaAkademi) and the Royal Society of Literature’s Winifred Holtby Prize.A collection of stories, Games at Twilight (1978), followed and then achildren’s book, The Peacock Garden (1979). Clear Light of Day(1980) was the first of Desai’s novels to be shortlisted for Britain’sBooker Prize, joined in 1984 by In Custody (also a Merchant-Ivoryfilm) and, in 1999, by Fasting, Feasting. Baumgartner’s Bombay(1988), a Hadassah Prize winner, and Journey to Ithaca (1995) roundout the list of her published novels. Desai’s prizes extend to theGuardian Prize for Children’s Fiction for her book, The Village by theSea (1982).

Desai resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is a pro-fessor in MIT’s Writing and Humanistic Studies Program; inCambridge, England, where she has been a visiting fellow of GirtonCollege and Clare Hall; in New Delhi; and in Tepoztlan, Mexico, thesetting of her story “Tepoztlan Tomorrow” and her next novel. She is afellow of the Royal Society of Literature in London and a member ofthe American Academy of Arts and Letters.

ANITA DESAI







ANITA DESAI

“Desai has a remarkable eye . . .for the things that give lifetexture.” — New York Times













1930 Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869–1948) launches acivil disobedience campaign against British rule.

1935 Britain grants India a constitution providing for a bicamer-al federal congress.

1947 Britain partitions British India into the dominions of Indiaand Pakistan. India becomes a self-governing member ofBritish Commonwealth. Jawaharlal Nehru becomes inde-pendent India’s first prime minister. More than 12 millionHindu and Moslem refugees cross the India-Pakistan bor-ders; approximately 200,000 people are killed in fighting.

1948 Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu extremist.

1950 India becomes a democratic republic, with a new constitution.

1952 The first general elections result in the Congress Partyretaining power and Nehru continuing as prime minister.

1959 The Dalai Lama flees from Tibet into India.

1962 India goes to war with China.

1964 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru dies.

1965 War with Pakistan ends with a ceasefire.

1966 Mrs. Indira Gandhi (daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru)becomes prime minister.

1969 Mrs. Gandhi is expelled from the Congress Party for indiscipline.

1971 Pakistani troops attack Bengali separatists in East Pakistanand approximately 10 million refugees flee into India. Warbreaks out between India and Pakistan. East Pakistanbecomes the independent nation of Bangladesh.

1974 India becomes a nuclear power.

1975 Mrs. Gandhi is found guilty of “electoral malpractice” andinvokes emergency provisions of the constitution.

1976 India resumes full diplomatic relations with Pakistan.

1977 The sixth general elections end the Emergency. Anti-Gandhiopposition parties turn Mrs. Gandhi’s Congress Party out ofpower for the first time since independence. Morarji Desaibecomes the first non-Congress prime minister.

1980 Mrs. Gandhi becomes prime minister a second time.

1984 Mrs. Gandhi is assassinated. Her son, Rajiv, replaces heras prime minister. A Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopalkills more than 2,200.

1989 Rajiv Gandhi is swept from office in ninth general elections.

1991 Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated. The tenth general electionsreturn the Congress Party to power.

AN INDIA TIMELINE


FOR DISCUSSIONWe hope the following questions will stimulate discussion for read-ing groups and, for every reader, provide a deeper understanding ofFasting, Feasting and Diamond Dust: Stories.

FASTING, FEASTING

1. “I’ve always been aware of food as an obsession,” Desai hassaid. What function does food play in the novel? How doesfood provide both “focus and continuity” in both societies?

2. What kinds of freedom and what specific freedoms do thecharacters seek?

3. What is the significance of Uma’s experiences at, on, and inthe sacred river?

4. In what ways does spirituality enter the novel? What charac-ters have authentic spiritual leanings or capacities?

5. What roles and expectations are open to women and men inthe India and America of Fasting, Feasting? What do thedetails of Anamika’s and Aruna’s marriages reveal aboutwomen’s lives in traditional India?

6. What differences and similarities are there between the Indianand American families, between corresponding members ofthe two families (for example, Mama and Mrs. Potter), andbetween their communities?

7. What instances and images of imprisonment and entrapmentoccur in the novel’s two parts?

8. What are the purposes of the various rituals, ceremonies, traditions,and routines—personal, social, and religious—that are observed inthe novel’s two parts? What are the consequences of ignoring tra-dition and custom and of disrupting established routine?

9. How does Desai establish Mama and Papa’s identities as sep-arate persons and, at the same time, as the single, and singu-lar, MamandPapa?


1. How does the title of each story reflect the story’s main theme,

action, or character?

2. What are the tensions in these stories between women and

society and between women and their families? What “defen-

sive strategies” are required of women?

3. Can you explain Raja’s value as a “precious commodity” (in

“Royalty”) and the resulting willingness of Sarla, Ravi, and

others to care for him, to tend to his every whim?

4. In “Winterscape,” Beth and Rakesh’s house is “crowded with

[Asha’s and Anu’s] hopes, expectations, confusion and disap-

pointments.” To what extent is this true of many of the charac-

ters in these stories—Polly, in “The Artist’s Life,” and Moyna,

in “The Rooftop Dwellers,” for example?

5. What everyday and more formal rituals and routines are por-

trayed? What are the consequences of misunderstanding,

ignoring, or departing from them?

6. In “The Artist’s Life,” Polly takes to the backyard tire swing

“to act out the contortions of the inarticulate mind.” What are

these contortions, as far as Polly is concerned, and how are

they worked out in the course of her story?

7. To Louis, in “Tepoztlan Tomorrow,” his aunt’s house “was a

larger cage.” What roles do houses and other residences play?

8. As she entertains Tara and Adrian on her terrace and again at

the end of “The Rooftop Dwellers,” Moyna experiences a

sense of freedom. In what ways can we say that Moyna is free?

9. In what circumstances do individuals relinquish established or

expected roles to others, as Anu relinquishes her role as moth-

er to Asha, in “Winterscape”?

AN INDIA TIMELINE1930 Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869–1948) launches a

civil disobedience campaign against British rule.

1935 Britain grants India a constitution providing for a bicamer-al federal congress.

1947 Britain partitions British India into the dominions of Indiaand Pakistan. India becomes a self-governing member ofBritish Commonwealth. Jawaharlal Nehru becomes inde-pendent India’s first prime minister. More than 12 millionHindu and Moslem refugees cross the India-Pakistan bor-ders; approximately 200,000 people are killed in fighting.

1948 Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu extremist.

1950 India becomes a democratic republic, with a new constitution.

1952 The first general elections result in the Congress Partyretaining power and Nehru continuing as prime minister.

1959 The Dalai Lama flees from Tibet into India.

1962 India goes to war with China.

1964 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru dies.

1965 War with Pakistan ends with a ceasefire.

1966 Mrs. Indira Gandhi (daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru)becomes prime minister.

1969 Mrs. Gandhi is expelled from the Congress Party for indiscipline.

1971 Pakistani troops attack Bengali separatists in East Pakistanand approximately 10 million refugees flee into India. Warbreaks out between India and Pakistan. East Pakistanbecomes the independent nation of Bangladesh.

1974 India becomes a nuclear power.

1975 Mrs. Gandhi is found guilty of “electoral malpractice” andinvokes emergency provisions of the constitution.

1976 India resumes full diplomatic relations with Pakistan.

1977 The sixth general elections end the Emergency. Anti-Gandhiopposition parties turn Mrs. Gandhi’s Congress Party out ofpower for the first time since independence. Morarji Desaibecomes the first non-Congress prime minister.

1980 Mrs. Gandhi becomes prime minister a second time.

1984 Mrs. Gandhi is assassinated. Her son, Rajiv, replaces heras prime minister. A Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopalkills more than 2,200.

1989 Rajiv Gandhi is swept from office in ninth general elections.

1991 Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated. The tenth general electionsreturn the Congress Party to power.

GLOSSARY(H = Hindi; M = Mexican Spanish; S = Sanskrit; U = Urdu)ayah (H) a children’s or lady’s maidbadmash (U) rogue; scoundrelbadmashi (U) scandalous, mischievous behaviorbanyan a tropical fig tree, native to India, that grows

new trunks from aerial roots over an increasing-ly large area

basura (M) garbage; rubbishbetel nut the fruit of the betel palm, chewed with lime

and betel-pepper leaves as a mild stimulantbolsa (M) bagbomba de gaz (M) propane tankchaiwallah (H) seller of tea to travelerscharpai (U) a lightweight bedstead or cot. English: charpoychunni (H) white (the color of mourning) article of clothing

draped over the shoulders and head by womendhal (H) a tropical shrub (a pulse) cultivated for its

pealike seed pods; also refers to a dish ofcooked lentils, beans, peas, and similar legumi-nous plants

dhoti (H) a long loincloth worn by Hindu men; mostfamiliar in the West as being worn by MahatmaGandhi

faisla (U) settlementhelados (M) ice cream; ice-cream conesjacaranda a tropical tree bearing large clusters of lavender

flowerskoel a large cuckooKrishna the most important avatar of Vishnu (second

god of the Hindu trinity), a demon slayer, fluteplayer, and lover

maidan (U) an open space in or near a town, used for publicwalking and recreation, parades, and sportsevents

mali (H) gardenermasi (H) auntmynah (H) a large tropical starling of India and Southeast

Asiaoleander a poisonous warm-climate shrub bearing fra-

grant white, pink, or red flowers“Om swa-ha!” (S) Sanskrit chant at Hindu religious ceremoniespai dog (H) stray dog

(continued on back panel)


FOR DISCUSSIONWe hope the following questions will stimulate discussion for read-ing groups and, for every reader, provide a deeper understanding ofFasting, Feasting and Diamond Dust: Stories.

FASTING, FEASTING

1. “I’ve always been aware of food as an obsession,” Desai hassaid. What function does food play in the novel? How doesfood provide both “focus and continuity” in both societies?

2. What kinds of freedom and what specific freedoms do thecharacters seek?

3. What is the significance of Uma’s experiences at, on, and inthe sacred river?

4. In what ways does spirituality enter the novel? What charac-ters have authentic spiritual leanings or capacities?

5. What roles and expectations are open to women and men inthe India and America of Fasting, Feasting? What do thedetails of Anamika’s and Aruna’s marriages reveal aboutwomen’s lives in traditional India?

6. What differences and similarities are there between the Indianand American families, between corresponding members ofthe two families (for example, Mama and Mrs. Potter), andbetween their communities?

7. What instances and images of imprisonment and entrapmentoccur in the novel’s two parts?

8. What are the purposes of the various rituals, ceremonies, traditions,and routines—personal, social, and religious—that are observed inthe novel’s two parts? What are the consequences of ignoring tra-dition and custom and of disrupting established routine?

9. How does Desai establish Mama and Papa’s identities as sep-arate persons and, at the same time, as the single, and singu-lar, MamandPapa?


1. How does the title of each story reflect the story’s main theme,

action, or character?

2. What are the tensions in these stories between women and

society and between women and their families? What “defen-

sive strategies” are required of women?

3. Can you explain Raja’s value as a “precious commodity” (in

“Royalty”) and the resulting willingness of Sarla, Ravi, and

others to care for him, to tend to his every whim?

4. In “Winterscape,” Beth and Rakesh’s house is “crowded with

[Asha’s and Anu’s] hopes, expectations, confusion and disap-

pointments.” To what extent is this true of many of the charac-

ters in these stories—Polly, in “The Artist’s Life,” and Moyna,

in “The Rooftop Dwellers,” for example?

5. What everyday and more formal rituals and routines are por-

trayed? What are the consequences of misunderstanding,

ignoring, or departing from them?

6. In “The Artist’s Life,” Polly takes to the backyard tire swing

“to act out the contortions of the inarticulate mind.” What are

these contortions, as far as Polly is concerned, and how are

they worked out in the course of her story?

7. To Louis, in “Tepoztlan Tomorrow,” his aunt’s house “was a

larger cage.” What roles do houses and other residences play?

8. As she entertains Tara and Adrian on her terrace and again at

the end of “The Rooftop Dwellers,” Moyna experiences a

sense of freedom. In what ways can we say that Moyna is free?

9. In what circumstances do individuals relinquish established or

expected roles to others, as Anu relinquishes her role as moth-

er to Asha, in “Winterscape”?

GLOSSARY(H = Hindi; M = Mexican Spanish; S = Sanskrit; U = Urdu)ayah (H) a children’s or lady’s maidbadmash (U) rogue; scoundrelbadmashi (U) scandalous, mischievous behaviorbanyan a tropical fig tree, native to India, that grows

new trunks from aerial roots over an increasing-ly large area

basura (M) garbage; rubbishbetel nut the fruit of the betel palm, chewed with lime

and betel-pepper leaves as a mild stimulantbolsa (M) bagbomba de gaz (M) propane tankchaiwallah (H) seller of tea to travelerscharpai (U) a lightweight bedstead or cot. English: charpoychunni (H) white (the color of mourning) article of clothing

draped over the shoulders and head by womendhal (H) a tropical shrub (a pulse) cultivated for its

pealike seed pods; also refers to a dish ofcooked lentils, beans, peas, and similar legumi-nous plants

dhoti (H) a long loincloth worn by Hindu men; mostfamiliar in the West as being worn by MahatmaGandhi

faisla (U) settlementhelados (M) ice cream; ice-cream conesjacaranda a tropical tree bearing large clusters of lavender

flowerskoel a large cuckooKrishna the most important avatar of Vishnu (second

god of the Hindu trinity), a demon slayer, fluteplayer, and lover

maidan (U) an open space in or near a town, used for publicwalking and recreation, parades, and sportsevents

mali (H) gardenermasi (H) auntmynah (H) a large tropical starling of India and Southeast

Asiaoleander a poisonous warm-climate shrub bearing fra-

grant white, pink, or red flowers“Om swa-ha!” (S) Sanskrit chant at Hindu religious ceremoniespai dog (H) stray dog





















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HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST A …