Brokeback Himalayas: Complete Hindi: A Hindi Teach Yourself Guide (2nd Ed.) is Rupert Snell’s Tour de Force
By Michaela Cross
Complete Hindi: A Hindi Teach Yourself Guide (2nd Ed.) stands not only as a monumental love story for the ages but as a critique of a society whose members are so focused on the price and aesthetic value of the furniture that occupies their rooms, rather than the feelings that occupy our hearts. Snell writes in a prose that is stark, minimalist and Hemingwayesque in its simplicity: “Is that car Japanese?” asks Pratap on his first meeting with Raj. “No,” responds Raj, “it’s not Japanese. It’s a Maruti.” Kamala watches this dialogue commence, unaware that the undercurrent of feeling running beneath these words is as deep, strong, and dirty as the Ganges.
In this way Snell brilliantly begins a passionate affair that burns stronger than the spiciest curry and lingers longer than its smell. As Pratap’s stay in Raj’s home lengthens, Snell elegantly builds a palpable sexual tension between the two men, who dare not speak of their shared longing under the watchful eyes of Kamala and society, refusing even to admit it to themselves. We see the painful internal struggle in Pratap’s diary entries as he fights his own feelings and the bonds of his sexuality. “Sangeeta is pretty. Raj is small.”
The dialogue between the characters is Snell’s satirical commentary on the meaninglessness of words and the vacuity of society. Unable to say what matters most, they speak of furniture, and revealingly, of fruit. One of the most erotic scenes takes place when Raj and Pratap visit the fruit vendor. “This banana is unripe,” says Pratap. “Eat my orange,” responds Raj.
At one particularly climactic moment Pratap begins “I am--” and we hold our breath, waiting for him to whisper the truth of his hidden homosexuality, only for Pratap to finish by admitting that he is “Gujarati.”
Snell, in a parody of the hypocritical standards of Indian society, uses language rife with symbolism to hint instead of state. “Is the cupboard empty?” asks Kamala during a particularly intense conversation. “Yes, both cupboards are empty,” responds Pratap significantly. The symbolism is obvious: Raj and Pratap have escaped from the closets that have become their prisons and are now leaving them behind and empty. But Kamala’s blindness about the truth of her son prevents her from understanding, which shows the existential abyss that lies between human beings that words fail to bridge.
Meanwhile, devastation befalls the Kumar family when Raj learns that Uncle Arun has misplaced his glasses.
Complete Hindi: A Teach Yourself Guide (2nd Ed.) is a beautiful love story, but a tragic one. Snell ingeniously reveals to us the ugliness of a society that makes a beautiful love like that between Raj and Pratap wrong. For the mango of their love never ripens: too focused on furniture and grammar, Pratap spends the rest of his stay in Delhi absorbed in his studies and leaves India with a full vocabulary but an empty heart. Raj, meanwhile, drunk on jealousy and chai, dedicates himself to the search for Uncle Arun’s glasses and is never heard from again.
But for all its sadness, this story is a lesson in tolerance; Complete Hindi: A Teach Yourself Guide (2nd Ed.) is India’s Brokeback Mountain, and with Snell’s masterful writing, it is difficult not to have the cobra charmed from one’s heart. This book makes you question the value of communication itself when it is so helpless in the blind face of culture. Upon closing this book there is no doubt that the reader will leave with a greater understanding of love and life. This story, ultimately, is one of triumph. “How are those fruits?” one character asks Pratap towards the end. “These fruits are good,” says Pratap. These fruits are good.
Feb. 1, 2012
As an instructor of Hindi, I have read the volume in question many times. I confess that the undercurrents of suppressed homoeroticism had escaped me until now. Thank you for illuminating them with your powerful high beams. I will return to teaching this text with renewed enthusiasm and a freshly critical eye.
Feb. 3, 2012
Ms. Cross's brilliant exegesis cum revelation of the stunning subtext of Snell's _Complete Hindi_ is at once shocking (How did one miss this? It's the 2nd Ed. already!) and satisfying (Ah, so that's what's going on. One knew it!). Cross deserves much praise for candidly sharing her penetrating insights in such a sensitive yet expository manner. One can only hope she'll next cast a discerning eye on Pien & Farooqui's _Beginning Urdu: A Complete Course_.