Why did the Bakula fall? : What “Gently Falls the Bakula” by Sudha Murthy means to me

by Arundhati Kamat

     As a voracious reader, I was introduced to Sudha Murthy when I was a child. As I grew up and began to appreciate her simple yet powerful writing style, I chanced across one of her novels titled “Gently Falls the Bakula”. Intrigued by the title and the cover description, I started reading it.

     “Gently Falls the Bakula” is a story that seems, at first, a beautiful simple story of two individuals. We are introduced to the primary characters Shrimati and Shrikant- both brilliant and bright young minds hailing from rival families. As they fall in love and marry against all the odds stacked against them, Sudha Murthy not only highlights their personal struggles but all the constraints that our society deliberately as well as unknowingly puts on us. Both characters are open-minded, sensitive and brave- even as they face the prospect of never being able to have kids, they decide to forego convention and live by themselves. Shrikant races ahead in his career and becomes a successful young executive; his homely and efficient wife gives up all her dreams and passions to provide for the comfort and efficiency of her home and her Shri- both of which are the center of her universe. But as he is catapulted to higher achievements; Shrimati, under the animosity of her conservative mother-in-law and depressed by her loneliness, becomes a mere shadow of the vivid and intelligent girl that she once had been. A meeting with her old mentor reminds Shrimati of her waning significance in Shrikant’s life and the passion for learning that never quite left her. In what can be described as one of the most poignant moments in the plot, she leaves her Shri and follows her dreams. Yet the farewell itself is not a big and theatrical exit. She gently explains to Shrikant what their marriage of ten years had been reduced to, and promises to be his friend and companion. As she leaves, Shrikant, deflated by the loss of his wife and best friend, feels dejected, but it is only momentary- as a call from work interrupts his thoughts, he is pulled back into the corporate world that he has come to call home.

     I read this book when I was in my early teen years and it had a profound impact on me. But my initial readings often left me confused. In my daily life, I had never seen or known of a story like this. If she was unhappy, I wondered, why did they not simply separate? And how was the title significant? As I started growing up, I was slowly able to uncover each layer that Sudha Murthy’s seemingly simple novel, written years ago, had created.

     Shrimati is an embodiment of all the virtues that an Indian woman must possess. She reminds me of Valmiki’s Sita- bright and independent yet with great love and devotion for her personal relationships. But this Sita does not have a dramatic exit when she reflects on her diminished dignity; she chooses to simply exit and greater importance to her self-respect and her dreams. Shrimati is a woman held back by no convention, no bondage, and no rigidity. She is an independent and sensitive thinker, and she inspired in my mind an ideal individual who must give of herself but know where to resume command. Even today, this story is real life for many relationships- we see women and men, both, giving up professional dreams for their family life, but without the ability to strike a balance between the two, creating negativity. The novel’s undercurrents are also very thought-provoking- the social pressure to follow conventions, the importance, or its lack, given to Shrimati’s knowledge of an “inferior” subject like History, the importance of having an open mind and the many roles that individuals, especially women, assume in the family.

     I read this book very often, and with every read, enjoy its new revelations. And as my understanding of the book gains depth, the title makes greater sense to me. The “Bakula”, a symbol of Shrikant and Shrimati’s love, depicts how each relationship passes through different phases, and to catch the Bakula as it falls and preserve its long-lasting fragrance is up to the individual.