Domestic violence and marital rape have been the subject of many works of fiction. Most of these books fall are either perceived as too “heavy” or too fickle. The Other End of the Corridor by Sujata Rajpal is the one of those refreshing, if not rare books that treats social issues such as domestic abuse, marital rape and early marriage in a simple and straightforward manner.
Leela is every other girl from a small town in North India. Accused of the double sin of being a Manglik, hence unlucky, and dark-skinned she stumbles into marriage to escape her family. Only to fall into greater doom. From this point onwards, the narrative unfolds a series of misfortunes – a psycho, jobless, abusive husband, who uses her as a punching bag when he needs to let off steam owing to his own personal miseries, and threatens her with suicide at the drop of a hat; a terminated pregnancy; a Hitler-ish mother-in-law; a life confined to the house. A move to a new city when her husband finally lands a job, and her discovery of internet and Facebook gives her a new lease of life. And also new connections.
From this point onwards, the story becomes a muddle, with too many characters and too many emotions. Leela explores her online alter ego, developing new relationships and exploring high society and adultery. The characters in the second half of the book come across as unconvincing and poorly built, leaving the reader confused. A husband who is until that point shown as extremely dominating and controlling, is suddenly indifferent to the fact that she comes home late every day and wants to study; friends with whom Leela spends every other day makes no effort to contact her when she goes missing for more than a year, and a guy who describes himself as her “silent admirer” suddenly decides to be “just a friend” then suddenly disappears overseas for months, returns for a passionate embrace and then disappears altogether, even when she is in jail and under trial. The reader is left to sew up the open ends on their own.
The book ends on a happily-ever-after Bollywood-ish note, with all the bad guys turning good and coming together for the family picture, which totally underplays the seriousness built up in the first part of the book.
Even though the book weaves many social and psychological issues into one story, the narrative is built compactly. The cover could have done with a lot of improvement. The Photoshopping is mediocre and the buggy in the background reminds you more of Kolkata than Patiala, where the story is set.
While this book is no literary marvel, it is a story many women would identify with or would have seen happening around them. Pick it up to read on a short journey, you won’t regret it.
Update: This book is a part of a list of 6 Indian Books That Broke Stereotypes in 2015 and has been declared as one of the bestsellers in 2015.
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