“The Guru of Love” by Samrat Upadhyay (Nepal)

Synopsis

Ramchandra is a math teacher earning a low wage and living in a small apartment with his wife and two children. Moonlighting as a tutor, he engages in an illicit affair with one of his tutees, Malati, a beautiful, impoverished young woman who is also a new mother. She provides for him what his wife, who comes from a privileged background, does not: desire, mystery, and a simpler life. Complicating matters are various political concerns and a small city bursting with the conflicts of modernization, a static government, and a changing population. Just as the city must contain its growing needs, so must Ramchandra learn to accommodate both tradition and his very modern desires.

The Guru of Love is a moving and important story – important for what it illuminates about the human need to love as well as lust, and for the light it shines on the political situation in Nepal and elsewhere.

Readers’ reviews

I quite enjoyed this book but not more. It’s an easy enough read, grounded in a specific place and time (Kathmandu in the 1990s). The backdrop of the pro-democracy movement and growing urbanisation of the city was vivid and one of the book’s highlights. I have mixed feelings about the protagonist, who I felt was quite forward-looking in his relationships with his children and in-laws. But in his relationship with his wife, and then his tutee who becomes his mistress, I thought he slipped back into a traditional role typical of a patriarchal society. What I liked most in the story were the descriptions of travelling through the city, and the different festivals and rituals performed by the family. – Nicola

Offline Read-Along reading list (Nov 2018 – Mar 2019)

Due to a serious health challenge, Nicola was unable to organise live book club meetings for the winter season 2018-2019. Instead, she continued to choose a Book of the Month and joined other readers on our Facebook Discussion Group where they shared their thoughts with her. The books were:

“Lila” by Marilynne Robinson (U.S.)
“It’s Fine By Me” by Per Petterson (Norway)
“The Guru of Love” by Samrat Upadhyay (Nepal)
“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi (Ghana)

Extra book:

“How to Stop Time” by Matt Haig (U.K.)