3 Review(s)

Official Flipkart Review Displacement and issues of home have long lived with literature. Dysfunctional families always will hang on strongly to the other issue. Coming back home is another one. “Land Where I Flee” in short is about coming back home and discovering what you were running from to begin with. Three siblings and a grandmother who has just turned eighty four form the plot of this intense tale of love, loss and longing for a place you have related with all your life. The writing does seem to jump narratives again and again; however once you get used to the writing it is breezy. The characters are etched well and are solid and sometimes weak in their own way and manner. One is reminded of Tolstoy’s famous saying on families and cannot escape the cliché. The book had me thinking a lot about my family ties once I was done with it. A read to make you ponder and mull.   Land Where I Flee explores the themes of family ties, roots, and a sense of belonging, as a scattered family gathers together for a special event.   Summary Of The Book Chitralekha had raised her grandchildren single-handed, after the death of their parents. Now, all of them have moved away, living in far corners of the world. Land Where I Flee begins with the family returning to celebrate the grand dame’s Chaurasi. The Chaurasi or the 84th birthday, is an important occasion in Nepalese tradition, and is a semi-religious event. All her grandchildren come to attend the function, but their grandmother has some questions for them. Bhagwati, the eldest, eloped with a low caste boy when she was young, and has been ostracized ever since. Manasa had fulfilled her grandmother's expectations and married into a powerful Nepalese family. But, she is disappointed at where her life has led her. An academic overachiever, she has had to let her dreams slide as she has been tied to the house taking care of her father-in-law. Agastya, the grandson, has settled in the US, and is now an oncologist. However, he too has a secret that he desperately wants to prevent from coming out. He knows that he will find this difficult if he returns for the Chaurasi. As the family gets together, the old wounds and new problems create a troubled atmosphere. Added to this, an uninvited guest stirs up more trouble. Chitralekha’s transgender servant, the irreverent Prashanti, also contributes her bit to the confusion. The siblings have come together after a long time, but old wounds still remain. Bhagwati is uncomfortable at getting back into her family, Manasa has angered her grandmother by refusing to bring her husband along. Agastya is terrified about being incessantly queried about his reason for still remaining a bachelor at 34. The family relationships and the shifting dynamics are played out well. Land Where I Flee paints an interesting picture of the life of the Nepalese diaspora in India. About Prajwal Parajuly Prajwal Parajuly is a Nepali-Indian author. He has also authored a collection of short stories, The Gurkha’s Daughter. Prajwal Parajuly was born in 1984, and grew up in Gangtok, Sikkim. He graduated from Truman State University in Missouri and began working as an advertising executive for The Village Voice, a weekly tabloid. He quit his job in 2009, and started visiting Nepalese communities across the world. He was especially drawn to the stories of the Nepali refugees from Bhutan. He gained admission to the Master’s programme in Creative Writing at Oxford University, while he was still working on his first collection of short stories.