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New Indian Express

Breaking the bond

'The first time she went away was on a Monday morning in July. I woke up to the sound of a gathering storm. It was six am'. This is how author Lopa Ghosh's novel Age Of Mondays (HarperCollins) begins, plunging the readers into a world of uncertainties. Throughout the novel, the author plays with this word to create a mood to tap into the uncertain times of the 21st-century. 'My novel challenges the fragile, often romanticised notion of childhood as idyllic. In truth, childhood is fraught with uncertainty and darkness—perhaps now more than ever, as we find ourselves in the heart of a polycrisis and a world steadily unravelling. Through the eyes of Narois, my ten-year-old protagonist, I try to explore what it might mean for children to inherit such a terrifying world. Will they still play, imagine, love? I believe they will and my novel is about that boundless resilience of survivors, about the deeply personal, intimate spaces of 'deep adaptation.' While Narois's specific challenges are not directly tied to global events, the sense of uncertainty that pervades her life, is but a reflection of these dark times," Ghosh notes. Although the book starts with a sudden disappearance, it does not confine itself to this event. Instead, it offers a nuanced take by diving deep into human psychology, the politics of a mother-daughter relationship, and most importantly, the journey from absurdity to hope. Means to an end As readers travel further with the novel, they dive deep into the character of mama-mon, Imon. The character has a lot of grey shades. She loves her child and shares a sweet mother-daughter bond with Narois, and through many political references, wants to prepare her child for a revolution to survive in this cruel world. Imon accuses her husband of living a double life, but never clearly defines what this double life is about, and keeps leaving her child on Monday mornings to teach her to survive in a cruel, motherless world. Her actions scar Narois; she tries to find the intention behind her mother's actions of leaving her every Monday and then coming back. 'Mama-mon has good intentions but she is ultimately a deeply flawed person. She wants her child to survive, be resilient. But in trying to thrust upon little Narois, her own interpretation of the world, she confuses the child and unwittingly creates insecurities and trauma. Accusations of double life that she levels against her husband are also hazy – they are based on how she perceives him and are evidently in contradiction with how Narois perceives her father,' adds Ghosh. Surviving it As her mother keeps leaving her, Narois tests her survival skills in the world; she finds Jugnus—a group of legendary healers and weather workers who help her fight her traumas—in the magical Jahanpanah forest. 'Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus explores the absurdity of our incessant journey between hope and despair—and the possibility of finding meaning despite it. The journey towards hope never ends, even in the darkest of times. My novel is not about uncertainties and abandonment. Rather it is about how we survive, about fierce hope and endurance," Ghosh adds.