My Memorable Book Musings

"A good story goes beyond what a forgiving God cares to do: it reconciles families and unburdens them of secrets whose bond is stronger than blood. But in their revealing, as in their keeping, secrets can tear a family apart."

Background

Wedged between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats lies a strip of land astounding in scenic beauty and crisscrossed by many big and small water bodies. Ambitious seafarers from the east and the west had sailed the seas coveting the spices that grew abundantly on this land. The native people of this land speak Malayalam. Their ways of life on land are inseparable from water- their highways.

The master craftsman of stories, Dr Abraham Verghese, authored a stunning family saga - 'The Covenant of Water', acclaimed as a modern classic and chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her book club in 2023.

Set in the rustic background of the Malabar Coast, South India, it tells the story of a family legacy with a 'condition' of drowning, spanning three generations from 1900 to 1977. The novel shows us the life and culture of a religious minority group- St. Thomas Christians and also brings to light the dynamics of the caste system, tradition and faith, through some memorable characters revealing the strengths and weaknesses of human nature.

Plot

An endearing conversation between a mother and a daughter opens the novel. It is the wedding night of a 12-year-old girl, and she will be wedded to a 40-year-old widower on the following day. This is an arrangement made by her uncle, in whose care her mother would be left after her marriage. The young girl is apprehensive about this hurried arrangement in which neither she nor her mother had a say. She remembers her late father, who would not have let this happen had he been alive. A furtive conversation between the elderly evokes suspicion in her heart about a hidden secret of the groom's family: A history of drowning to death that is like a disease recurring in every generation.

The opening chapter entitled 'Always' introduces a young girl with a fragile body still premature for a marital relationship. She leaves behind everything dear and moves to her husband's house. On embarking on a new life in the 'Parambil', her only consolation to make up for her separation from her beloved mother and her religious upbringing is Jojo, her stepson survived by the late wife of her husband. The novel's first part deals with the young bride who comes to terms with her new life as she matures into a wife and a mother. She becomes the Big Ammachi, the matriarch of the Parambil Estate house, who carries the family legacy and passes it on to the next generation.

The second part of the story is set in Glasgow, Scotland, and introduces the character of Dr Digby Kilgour. He was a victim of oppression owing to the stigma of faith to which he belonged. His broken family could offer him no respite. After losing his mother, he was completely shattered but was successfully enrolled on the Indian Medical Service. On alighting the coast of Madras, his life takes up a different turn, where he finds himself belonging to a more privileged class.

Digby, who was oppressed in Glasgow, belongs to the class of oppressors in British India. His life in Longmere Hospital deepens our understanding of the socio-political structure of Indian societies under British yoke. The graphic representations of various medical conditions and surgical procedures are enlightening, albeit not an easy read. The onslaught of misfortune continues in Digby's life. He meets with a terrible accident and becomes physically challenged for life. He loses his job and becomes desperate. He seeks asylum in loneliness, but his life transforms as he meets Dr Rune at his Leprosarium. A special bond develops between the two that eventually changes his perceptions about medical practices and sickness. He meets Elsie, a nine-year-old girl who helps him overcome his physical immobility to a certain degree and sets him free of his mental inhibition about his past life. Digby's life connects to Big Ammachi's family later in the novel.

The story comes to its gripping climax as Mariamma, the grandchild of Big Ammachi, discovers the truth about 'the condition' that kept gnawing at the heart of the Parambil family.

My Thoughts

This is storytelling at its best. It is a mélange of adventure, romance, family secrets, unexpected twists, morbid diseases, friendship, family bonding and resilience of the human spirit in right proportions. The story takes an epic form in its narration of a multi-generational family saga transporting the reader into a bygone era of Kerala and some parts of Madras. The historical references and the attention paid to details throughout the novel make it truly epic.


It is a celebration of basic goodness in ordinary human beings. The mystical quality of language and faith expressed in difficult times make 'The Covenant of Water' a spiritual novel. It compels us to expand our outlook on morbid human conditions.


" in this upside-down world, snarls are smiles, ugly is beautiful, and the crippled outwork the able-bodied, but tears are the same. "


All in all, it is thought-provoking and enjoyable.