This short novel explores poverty, gender, class and the precarious life of India’s marginally employed. The background of the characters is artfully developed. The reader knows their back-stories but the other characters only know pieces.

Ramchand had a good beginning in life, but the death of his parents left him vulnerable to a greedy uncle. He was able to get some education and in this book he works to develop his English skills. The 6 days/week of long hours he puts in at the sari shop, limited his horizons until the absence of senior employees brought him outside assignments.

As Ramchand sees the life of the very rich and how it impacts the life of the working poor the reader does too. His sensitivity is foreshadowed by the story of his childhood and his sympathy for the couple who lost two sons in the 1983 assault on the Temple of Amritsar.

You see the upper class’s blithe indifference to the suffering of others. With jobs scarce, you see the pettiness of the managerial class. You see how the arranged marriage system creates an adherence to it among the comfortable women (and perhaps is the reason for its grudging acceptance of achieving women) and the absolute tragedy (and society’s acceptance of it) that the wrong marriage can make for a poor woman.

Along with Ramschand, you feel despair. The issues, of course, are larger than anything Ramshand can do anything about. Without an accessible system of justice and a social safety net the poor and marginally established have little recourse.

It was an interesting but ultimately depressing read. The main character, Ramchand, was very sympathetic. A sensitive young man who had lost his parents when he was 6 years old when there bus tipped over. He was taken in by a man who called himself uncle, who had a wife and several children of his own. But Ramchand was not treated like one of their own children. He grew up to be a solitary sort, having been sent to work in the sari shop when he was 15. His parents had instilled in him the importance of education and he had a yearning to improve himself.

At the Sari Shop, he is exposed to women from wealthy families and is inspired to study english, spending his meager earnings on books. One day one of his colleagues does not come to work and Ramchand is sent to find out why. He goes to the address in a squalid part of the city and finds his colleagues wife in a drunken stupor.

This wife was also an orphan but her experiences had scarred her badly and having discovered her husband's liquor, she had become an alcoholic.

Ramchand was moved to try and help her and almost lost his job and his sanity in the process.

This story exposes the corrupting influence of wealth and the corrosive effects of poverty that continue in parts of India today.

Not often does it happen that we read and speak out loud "Yes! Yes! Yes! This is what happens". _The Sari Shop_ by Rupa Bajwa brings you to a world of thoughts -wild, stirring, provoking, and churning. As interesting as the title sounds, the narrative follows the colourful patterns and designs of a sari, often losing the sheen and brightness only to leave a dull, dreadful and devastating reality.
Bouncing between knowing and not-knowing, as readers we are moved, stirred and compelled to feel as deeply as the protagonist.

Through a thorough reading we come across the ugly reality of class and inter-sectionality. The novel is a microcosm of a typical Indian society which includes rich and poor together, but very far apart at the same time.

This is an easy read and a good travelling companion. There is nothing compelling about the life of Ramchand or the Sevak Sari House where he works as a saree salesman. Yet an excursion delivery of bundle of sarees for trousseau of Rina Kapoor brings him face-to-face with glitzy and the glamorous world of Kapoors. Here begins a new adventure for Ramchand. He starts teaching himself English. Then, comes another excursion, he's sent on an errand to report the whereabouts of Chander another salesman. Ramchand meets foul mouthed Kamla (Chander's wife) and slowly her story unfolds in front of his eyes. Remaining he pieces together. Small town life as it is comes face-to-face in the form of many minor character Mrs. Sachdev's hypocrisy clothed in high sounding morals is nothing but a cleverly closeted sycophancy of Rina Kapoor, her rich father, and their rich friends. Rina Kapoor a brilliant girl is nothing but a self seeking small town girl. Shallowness of other characters does etch out Ramchand's loneliness. He has a moment of awakening when he realizes weak in the society are not able to come to terms with their loss. They need help to punish and push back their oppressors. Ramchand despite showing exceptional bravado pleads mercy on account of being drunk. Everything is forgiven and forgotten and Ramchand is accepted back in the rolls of Sevak Saree House for a happy end. Yet is it happy? or just back to mundane. Oh, what a loss!

Terrific
Really moved me and got into my brain
A memorable book
Only two minor flaws : hard to keep up with all the names introduced at the start and i am never welcome passages of physical breakdown lasting days marked by dreams with symbolic meaning, retching and vomiting , sleep and isolation
But I don’t want to dwell on these aspects as it’s is a meaningful and well written book.

Thank you

جذبتنى فكره ان اقرا روايه هنديه مترجمه.. وقد كانت بدايه
الروايه ممله بعض الشئ عن بائع هندى يعمل ف محل بيع السارى ولكن حياته سطحيه جدا تنحصر فقط فى غرفته المتواضعه حيث يعيش ومحل السارى حيث يعمل ، ثم تبدا تتفتح عيونه على العالم الاخر من البشر وتتسع مداركه بالاجتهاد للقراءه، ثم يبدا يثور على الظلم الذى يتعرض له او غيره ممن يعرفهم.. واخيرا نهايه محبطه ولكنها واقعيه حيث يعود ثانيه لطبيعته المستكينه!
الروايه شيقه بالتفاصيل والوصف للمشاعر والاشياء فى حياه بطل القصه الهندى كيفما يراها.. واعجبتنى تطورات شخصيته حتى فهم وطبق مقوله "لكل شئ وجهين واحيانا اكثر من وجهه"

I picked this book for my holiday read as it was simple but interestingly engaging and very laidback. I loved how I could picture each scene as if it was actually a Hindi movie on screen, a simple lazy Sunday afternoon one. The characters and background on each are impressive and well thought out. Ramchand's budding love for reading warmed me from within and the description of him looking at his book collection lovingly made me giddy. The story took a surprising turn which I wasn't prepared for and I absolutely love it when that happens! I could feel the life seeping away from me while reading the description of Kamla's descent into the abyss. I felt horrified for Ramchand and wished desperately for him to find someone to talk to but it is just as it is in reality - we either are never able to speak even when opportunity presents itself or the words rarely convey it's intended meaning when we try to truly share our deepest lowest moments. Quoting The Guardian's comment "the terrible climax in this compassionate novel takes you with such force." - is indeed accurate. It was a really good read - I'm glad I changed my mind and picked it up after all.

The Sari Shop is a compact psychological study of a sari-walla in Amritsar. It focusses on the contrasts between his life and 1) what his father had hoped for him; 2) the customers of the sari shop; 3) his co-workers; 4) the suffering wife of this co-worker. These drive him to a breaking point. Unlike many books about India, this one does not end in utter tragedy.

The novel is entirely modern in its setting and focused in its concerns. No reference is made to Amritsar's tragic history under the British Raj, but perhaps the author assumes that the reader cannot be unaware of the broader context of the novel. If you are unaware, I highly recommend Paul Scott's Raj Quartet.

اول قراءة في الادب الهندي ..بعيد عن أفلامهم و الطبيعة الجميلة و الرقص ، البطل الخارق " هنا ترى الوجه الطبيعي للإنسان الهندي و معاناته ملخص قصير تحكي عن شاب يتيم عاش مع عمه فترة ثم لظروفهم الصعبة طلب منه ان يعيش لوحده ترك المدرسة و عمل في دكان الساري لديه امل ان يغير من حياته للأفضل

Tbh, this one caused mixed feelings. I get what the author is trying to portray w.r.t to injustice caused by classism, but, it feels haphazard & deliberately spiralling towards helplessness of the main character.

The Penguin UK cover for this book is a sodding outrage, what is wrong with them? This is a desperately bleak book about poverty and class in India while includes a really brutal lengthy account of a woman being abused, beaten, repeatedly violently raped and finally murdered in a truly evil way by a non-stop stream of misogynist men and a society in which she doesn't matter at all. Who the fuck thought, "I know, let's give it a cute font and happy lady on a fuchsia pink background"? Did anyone who had read it actually brief the cover designer? What made them think "we need to make this look like chick lit", except that it's by a woman and has the word 'sari' in the title oh right there's my answer. Penguin: continuing to disappoint since I don't know when.

JFC.

Cover aside, this is about wealth and poverty in India and how it affects the various characters. It's well drawn but a bit picaresque in that there's no driving plot--the main character, Ramchand, has less of a character arc than a circle, very much ending up where he began, and very few of the events that happen have knock-on effects except the ones that see a woman horrifically destroyed.

IDK. It's powerful and well written and it felt like it was going somewhere, but ultimately for me it didn't (unless where we're going is bleak hopelessness). And I didn't love Kamla's story being presented quite so much as A Thing That Affects Ramchand. Feels fridgy.

4.5*
I was in that sari shop, with the men who worked there, with the gossipping women and the self-important manager. I was also with those in pain from the way their lives had changed through no fault of their own and a little envious of those who had it all. Everything woven together seamlessly - bit like a sari.