Mar 29, 2004 10:19 AM
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(Updated Mar 29, 2004 10:19 AM)
My first (and hopefully, the only) seriously ‘serious book’ review. Please read.
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The Plot
Maria is from the interiors of Brasil (spelt with ‘s’ as against the Anglo spelling of ‘z’) and ever since she can remember, she’s been aware of a world beyond the little place of her birth. She has been brought up in a religious atmosphere where the Virgin Mary plays a big role in every aspect of her life. She is no hick, but is quite well-read and watch a lot of soaps on the local telly. She falls in love, but it always seems to end in disappointment. This attitude colours the rest the decisions in her life. She keeps a diary in which she records her emotions, thoughts, feelings about what goes on in her life.
Her search for love takes her to Switzerland, the ‘land of chocolates and clocks’ where she willingly embraces prostitution to make a living for a year and then she plans to save the money to buy a farm for her parents back home. She is clear about what she wants – enough money for the farm, a plane ticket back home – that’s all.
Her encounters with the kind of people who make up her clientele and how she comes to terms with the world makes up the rest of the book. And does she find what she is looking for?
Characters
Maria: She was downright naive when she first landed in Switzerland and by the time she realises what is really expected of her, she loses some of the naiveté. She also comes to terms with what is expected of her as a prostitute (the profession is legal in Switzerland). The diary is her way of expressing her thoughts so that she does not confuse herself with the differences in love and servicing. She is adamant about going home and making a family there. She refuses to fall in love on duty.
She came as a babe and leaves as a woman.
Milan: The owner of the pub Copacabana [typical name :)]. He is very clear when he explains the rules of the pick-up game to the new Maria. What drink to accept, how much time to spend waiting, how many clients in one evening, how not to lure others’ clients, what are special clients ... Milan knows the rules and makes sure that all his ‘girls’ know it too. Here’s a pimp different from what I thought I knew. He is a businessman, but he does not ill treat the girls. He has a wife and kids at home – he earns from the girls for his kids. He protects them from abuse, takes care of legal hassles for them if there are any, is good to them if they fall ill. He cares about them – like a horse-breeder cares for his stable of equines.
The Painter: I prefer to remember this character by this moniker, even though he’s got a name. He sees the ‘light’ in Maria, wants to paint it. He is not a typical client, though he does enter Copacabana with the express intention of ‘buying’ Maria for the night. The Painter brings Maria’s life into full-colour focus where she was just floating above it, a detachment that she developed coz of her work. He rescues her from herself, just as she is about to fall off the cliff of too much self-analysis. He loves Maria for who she is, not because of what she is.
The Virgin: This is not a character, its a euphemism. A thread that keeps running throughout Maria’s life – from childhood to adolescence to prostitution to love. Its not even as much a reference to Mother Mary as much as its an ode to Maria as she sees herself. A kind of an alter-ego as I perceived it, one that guides without interference, a sounding board if you will – to sound off things before making a decision.
My take-aways from the book
Love yourself before you seek to love another person.
Every decision in life is not black-or-white; there are many shades of grey that factor in.
Often, making a decision is not about right or wrong – its about a balancing act to do what’s best for you and yours.
Sometimes, it takes a lot of walking to reach a destination but the journey itself teaches you what to do when you reach there.
Flagellation of the spirit is not a solution to guilt – learn to forgive yourself and then move on from there.
Life is not always about happy endings. Its about the glorious highs and miserable lows.
Being lonely is not a physical state – as they say, you can really be alone even in a tide of humanity at Churchgate in peak hours. :)
Ultimately, you are responsible for the amount and quality of happiness or sorrow that you grant yourself. Its all in the mind, dear.
My two cents/twenty paisa worth
I don’t know about the whole world and all the women in it but I do know a little about myself and a couple of friends who kind of are in the same boat as me. Did that make sense? LOL
Anyway, Maria reminds me of myself when I am in the analytical mode. And of course, I too have a diary since more than 10 years now. I empathise with what she has been through, though I wouldn’t condone or follow the route that she chose. But that’s her life and her decision. Maria seeks Adventure in her life and she dares to grab the opportunity when she gets one. How many of us are that brave?
And this book in no way encourages, propagates or condones (or whatever else) prostitution – legal or illegal.
