One week, One book - 03

 

I was fascinated reading Rosarita by Anita Desai. 💐

Once before, I had entered Anita Desai’s imaginary world through "The Village by the Sea". Rosarita, for me, was a huge turn from that world. From the simple language to the lyrical richness of the vocabulary, and more than that, the mind blowing story itself truly deserves to be praised as “Desai’s transcendent late gift.” 

It is really a gift. 😌

The story begins in Mexico, in a park in San Miguel. There, a strange woman, who introduces herself as Victoria, sees a young girl who looks very much like her old friend Rosarita. Years ago, Rosarita had come to Mexico to learn painting, and now Victoria approaches the girl with so much happiness, believing she has met the daughter of her beloved friend. But the girl, Bonita, who is clearly Indian, rejects her completely. She says her deceased mother’s name was Sarita, not Rosarita  and that she had never come to Mexico or studied art.

From one situation to another, the novella increases the breathing rate of the reader, making us constantly think what the reality is.

Did her mother come to Mexico and learnt painting? Is Victoria telling the truth?

Or? 

Whatever the truth may be, the long lasting absences in Bonita’s life, the experiences she had in her grandparents’ house, the silence around her mother, and the emptiness of her own home, make her travel with Victoria, the woman whom she calls “The Trickster” (brings the archetypal meaning of Trickster) to reveal the secret. It happens with Bonita's deep need to find the real identity of her mother: Rosarita, whom she has  known as Sarita.

More than that, as readers, we engage with the journey because Desai has used the second person point of view, making us Rosarita. We are not only readers, we search. 

Since the writer has touched both the Indian Partition and the Mexican Revolution, the story strongly presents themes of partition, identity, and belongingness.

Furthermore, Desai has carried rooted Indianness throughout the novella: from the rejection of Victoria, to the University of Benares, to Rosarita’s role as a wife and mother, and the interventions of Bonita’s grandparents. 

Even Bonita’s wish to learn language beautifully suggests another bitter truth of many Asian countries which is the desire of youngsters to escape to Europe hoping for a better life, just as people once chased the American Dream.

A magical literary piece. ♥️♥️

Tharushi
23.04.2026

One Week, One Book 02

“One morning, without having done anything wrong, Joseph K. was arrested.”

Franz Kafka always begins his writings in a way that shakes the reader. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa wakes up as a vermin. ("One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a vermin") In The Trial, Joseph K. wakes up to find himself arrested for no reason, no explanation, no clear accusation or no justice. Only fear and confusion.

The story runs with Joseph K. as he tries to understand what is happening to him. He goes from place to place, meets strange people, enters dark courtrooms and endless offices, in order to find one clear answer. But the more he searches, the more lost he becomes. He never truly reaches the center of the system that controls him, neither the Judge nor the High court.

What touched me most here is, how real this feels. Maybe it is not the arrest itself, but the feeling of being trapped by things we do not understand such as rules, expectations, society, anxiety, even our own thoughts. Kafka has turned that silent human fear into a story.

Some say that Kafka has penned about the meaningless world being an atheist, dealing with absurdism, or influencing from the thinkers like Nietzsche. But Kafka is beyond labels. He writes the emotions we struggle to name!

Even though this novel was written long ago, it still addresses us. His world is strange, uncomfortable, and sometimes painful, but it feels close to our own. So, the world is Kafkasque. 

Sometimes life itself is a Trial. 😌

Tharushi
19.04.2026

One Week, One Book 01

Siddhartha, as a person on a self-pilgrimage, feels very connected to the modern era in an interesting way. At first, when we start reading, we are almost pushed to think that this is similar to the story of Gautama Buddha. But as we go further, it slowly opens into something else. The introduction of Gotama as a separate character creates a shift, and Siddhartha steps into his own journey.

Hesse seems to move between the outer world and the inner self very smoothly. It feels like he is also touching on something very modern, the way people keep searching for meaning and trying to understand themselves. There is this sense of a divided self or restless human nature, and Siddhartha’s journey brings that out in a simple but deep way.

Even though the story, on the surface, may feel like a loose or even distorted version of Buddha’s life, Hesse’s use of Eastern philosophy gives it a different layer. It becomes more about how the modern mind understands life and meaning rather than just retelling a spiritual story.

To me, Kamala’s death feels like the end of a certain phase (maybe desire, love, or attachment)which marks a change in Siddhartha. And characters like his friend: Govinda, the ferryman, and even his son somehow act like bridges, helping us see different sides of reality through his journey.

I really noticed the ambiguity. As with the modern narrations it reminded me that self is not something fixed it keeps changing. And this reading made me feel that finding meaning is not simple or direct. It is personal, sometimes confusing, and always evolving.

"Siddhartha, what are you waiting for?"

"You know what."

"Will you always stand that way and wait, untill it'll becomes morning, noon, and evening?"

"I will stand and wait."

"You will become tired, Siddhartha."

"I will become tired."

"You will fall asleep, Siddhartha."

"I will not fall a sleep."

"You will die, Siddhartha."

"I will die."

So, we search, we find and vice versa. We will become tired and die but we will not fall a sleep.

-Tharushi-
12.04.2026