Summary of Tales of Modern India: Bondage
A women around 22 or 23 wishes to live an extravagant life like the shows she watches. She lives in a small town in India called Nathagar. Her dream is to live in Kothi and marry a rich man, so all her wishes and dreams can come true. Her parents believe in the traditional arranged marriage, so she is engaged to an older suitor whom she does not care for. One day, a boy confesses his love for her. At first she rejects him, but later on she accepts his love. Even though he was not rich, she loves him for who he is. The boy wants to marry this girl, so he asks her parents for their approval. The girl’s parents respond by insulting him and throwing him out of the house. In India, “…the father’s word was as good as God’s will” (111). The girl is madly in love with the boy, so she disobeys her father, takes as much as her family’s money as she can, and runs away with the boy to the capital.
They rented a hotel room in Paharganj and had intercourse. She fell deeply in love with him, and that morning they went to temple and got married. The woman and the man decided it was time to move into their own place. The man and woman came to a consensus and sold some valuable jewelry. They wanted to stay on the outskirts of Paharganj, so they moved Jahangirpuri. The two moved to Jahangirpuri because they didn't want to be caught by their families. The two had no knowledge on how to survive in the real world because they both came from the upper class. The result of this was the husband went into a downward spiral. He started coming home drunk and angry because he was unable to provide for the wife he had, or do the activities he was use to. The wife left him for this. After awhile of hard work she made something of herself. She decided to return to the family she left so long ago. However, this is not a happy ending. The woman’s brother did not appreciate the new status she was able to obtain. Because of this the brother decided to do the unthinkable, the brother killed her making it look like an accident.
A similar situation occurs with a reporter in India. Her husband just recently lost his job. His wife however was doing very well, and she was the sole provider of the family. Just like the other story, the husband starts to drink. As a result of this action, it causes a lot of tension in the couple’s relationship. Since the husband is an insubordinate drunk, he comes up with a brilliant idea for him and his wife to grow a little closer. He decided they should role play. The wife has to be the damsel in distress, while he is the heroic knight that gets to save her. The wife says that he requested full access to her body. The man wanted to feel like he has the power, and the wife agreed. After their “role play session” the wife is disgusted with the choice she made to let her husband have complete control of her body. Because of this she decides to kill herself.
Both situations throughout the book have similar aspects. In the first situation the brother can’t stand the girl being more successful than him, to the extent that he believed she needed to be killed. Likewise, the reporter was doing very well for the family and the man couldn't handle that, therefore he had to find a new way to degrade the woman.
They rented a hotel room in Paharganj and had intercourse. She fell deeply in love with him, and that morning they went to temple and got married. The woman and the man decided it was time to move into their own place. The man and woman came to a consensus and sold some valuable jewelry. They wanted to stay on the outskirts of Paharganj, so they moved Jahangirpuri. The two moved to Jahangirpuri because they didn't want to be caught by their families. The two had no knowledge on how to survive in the real world because they both came from the upper class. The result of this was the husband went into a downward spiral. He started coming home drunk and angry because he was unable to provide for the wife he had, or do the activities he was use to. The wife left him for this. After awhile of hard work she made something of herself. She decided to return to the family she left so long ago. However, this is not a happy ending. The woman’s brother did not appreciate the new status she was able to obtain. Because of this the brother decided to do the unthinkable, the brother killed her making it look like an accident.
A similar situation occurs with a reporter in India. Her husband just recently lost his job. His wife however was doing very well, and she was the sole provider of the family. Just like the other story, the husband starts to drink. As a result of this action, it causes a lot of tension in the couple’s relationship. Since the husband is an insubordinate drunk, he comes up with a brilliant idea for him and his wife to grow a little closer. He decided they should role play. The wife has to be the damsel in distress, while he is the heroic knight that gets to save her. The wife says that he requested full access to her body. The man wanted to feel like he has the power, and the wife agreed. After their “role play session” the wife is disgusted with the choice she made to let her husband have complete control of her body. Because of this she decides to kill herself.
Both situations throughout the book have similar aspects. In the first situation the brother can’t stand the girl being more successful than him, to the extent that he believed she needed to be killed. Likewise, the reporter was doing very well for the family and the man couldn't handle that, therefore he had to find a new way to degrade the woman.