The Windfall

Okay, maybe because I like comedies-of-manners AND books set in India AND books about Indian-Americans, I really liked Diksha Basu’s new novel, “The Windfall”. Set both in Delhi and Ithaca, New York, it’s the sweet story of the Jha family. Father Anil has become wealthy overnight because of an internet innovation he has sold for many millions of dollars. Going from middle-class to wealthy has done a number on Anil Jha, who can’t seem to figure out how to spend the money fast enough. Moving from their middle-class, noisy, a bit shabby housing complex to a secluded area of new, prestigious homes in Gugaon, a Delhi suburb is not accomplished without some questioning by Anil’s wife, Bindu, who sees life with much more practicality than her husband. She’s loathe to leave their old digs, but wants to please her husband. Their son is off studying in the United States and he has his own problems.

The Jha family interacts with old neighbors and new neighbors. Diksha Basu’s writing is lovely and she seems to quite honestly care about her characters. I’m not sure if the Jhas’ – particularly Anil’s – preoccupation with status and money and what money can buy was exaggerated for fiction, but I’ll bet a lot of it is real.

Diksha Basu’s novel may seem superficial on reading, but it really isn’t. Love abounds in all the relationships and the happiness that results is a joy to read. It reminded me of another book I loved, “The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing”. by Mira Jacob. If you like this book, you should check out the Jacob book.

In The Windfall, the debut novel from Indian writer and actressDiksha Basu, a struggling middle-aged, middle-class Delhi family strikes it rich and moves across town to a wealthy neighborhood in the suburb of Gurgaon. Anil Jha had strained for years to build an online business, earning just enough to send his son to an upper-class school, when a surprise offer to buy his site led to a $20 million windfall. Mr. Jha’s immediate response was to purchase a Mercedes and a large and expensive home in an exclusive neighborhood, leaving behind the family’s cramped quarters in an aging high-rise development in East Delhi. His wife, Bindu, is less than enthusiastic about either purchase. Now, the two are moving into their new quartersand Mr. Jha’s primary concern is to impress the new neighbors with how much money he has. The old neighbors, jealous about the Jhas’ good fortune, are unhappy about the move.

Meanwhile, Basu’s other key characters enter the stage. The Jhas’ son, Rupak, is flunking out of an MBA program at Ithaca College in New York. He’s infatuated, and maybe in love, with a beautiful young American woman named Elizabeth, a student at Cornell. But Rupak is terrified of letting his parents know he’s dating an American, and he has been procrastinating about telling them. Bindu’s friend, Reema Ray, a widow at 37 and now 42, is pretending to be happy living alone. And the Chopras, who live next door to the new house in Gurgaon, are fretting about whether their new neighbors have more money than them. Their own wealth has permitted Mrs. Chopra to buy a large quantity of flashy and expensive jewelry and their adult son, Johnny, to live at home, chase girls full-time, and avoid work.

The Windfall is what critics are fond of calling a “comedy of manners.” It’s at times an amusing tale, but it would be a stretch to call it comedy. Though the dominant themes are class envy and the corrosive effect of having a great deal of money, Basu also shows belief in the possibility of romantic loveas well as her fondness for the practice of arranged marriages. Under the story’s surface lies the tragic reality of India’s poverty and the yawning gap between rich and poor in the country’s fast-developing economy.

As an Indian born American raised female, I have read very few books that have expressed the difficulties of navigating two cultures that were not one-sided or had some hidden agenda. Plus, the touching on the differences in life in India are determined whether you are a man or woman. The Windfall had to be one of the best books I have ever read in my life. I just felt like the author understood. No one is right or wrong. But it is so hard to find a middle ground between the two cultures or the two sexes.

This was a quick and entertaining read. It deals with the satisfaction and trials of moving from a comfortable, yet modest life in the old neighborhood, to the grandeur of a home in the rapidly growing, upwardly mobile suburbs of New Delhi. You will laugh and squirm at the presumptions of the Jha family as they navigate the changes their sudden affluence (from the sale of an Internet business) brings them. The book also charts the course of their son, sent to earn an MBA in Ithica College NY, as he tries to balance life in the USA, his studies, an American girlfriend, his parent’s expectations, and his new found affluence. It’s an interesting glimpse into another culture, but also reveals the universality of the Jha’s situation, since I think we all experience to some extent, certain misgivings and social discomforts as are brought about by changes, as we navigate through life. The author employs a number of cliches with regard to his characters, but I can overlook that, since cliches are usually born of a reccurring truth. The writer, in his concise style, deftly describes vignettes: the old neighborhood, interactions between husband and wife, old and new neighbors, parents and children, the stresses and excitement of a visit to the USA, and so on. He creates a flawed but likeable cast of characters.

The characters fairly leap off the page in this thoroughly engaging keeping-up-with-the-Chopras novel by Diksha Basu.

Mr & Mrs Jha have been content for decades living in their cramped flat in an East Delhi block that has seen better days. Its the kind of place where people are in and out of each others front door and each others lives. When software engineer Mr Jha sells his start-up for an unexpectedly vast sum, hes thrilled to bits to be going up in the world. But hows he going to break it to the neighbours that theyre moving on?

Our Mr Jha is tickled pink with his new electronic shoe polishing machine until Mr Chopra – the flashy next-door neighbour in Gurgaon – spots it on the front seat of Mr Jhas new Mercedes and pooh-poohs such a contraption. Mr Jha considers the idea of butlers: a different sort of pleasure than having servants bringing you food and cleaning your home. Butlers showed that you had made the progression from servants to expensive appliances to uniformed men who ran the expensive appliances.

Some interesting one-upmanship goes on between Mr Jha and Mr Chopra. They compete for the privilege of being the father of the most indolent son: in this way, they demonstrate to the neighbourhood that they are wealthy enough to support their grown-up offspring!

Mrs Jha is a different kettle of fish altogether. Recently retired from her worthwhile job, shes uncomfortable with the move, worried about fitting in and concerned that their son Rupak (studying lackadaisically in the States) isnt eating properly and also that hell fall for a pretty blonde American girl. (He isnt and he does.) When they go to New York to visit, her husband takes her to Tiffanys and this scene alone is worth the price of entry. How Mrs Jha longs to look like Audrey Hepburn!

This sharply observed comedy of manners really is a delight. I believe it may be Diksha Basus first novel if so, its a confident debut. She has produced a perfectly poised narrative where the humour is counter-balanced by the books serious social and cultural points, and she has peopled it with some appealing (and some not-so-appealing) characters. Admittedly, one or two may be a little broad stroke and one or two scenes a bit over the top but even so there was an underlying subtlety of purpose and development throughout. Dont let the flippancy of the front cover typography put you off: this may be an easy read – but it’s a good one.

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