Meshes of Smoke as the title suggests is a romantic notion of life and love as spun from the depths of a young woman's heart. Abeer starts out in the book as a young woman entering teenage. Her heightened sense of awareness of the men in her life coincides with her coming of age into the turbulent teenage years.
The book is set in the 1990s but it certainly is not a modern day dilemma. Abeer's aristocratic father does not heed her cries for attention and love. The air of authoritarian hegemony and repression in her parents' home make Abeer unable to stand up for herself and take charge of her own life. Abeer grows up feeling estranged and misunderstood by her abusive father. The only other relationship that she is privy to at close quarters, is that of her parents, which seems based on domination and intimidation.
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One of the ironies of Abeer's conservative household is that it does seem oblivious to the dangers of having young, attractive, single women thrown in the constant company of good looking men. The ensuing furtive relationships that follow have devastating consequences — a servant who takes her life and Abeer's further estrangement from her father.
The author Nazia Mallick writes with great sensitivity and a gentle, light touch. The writing is beautiful and expressive. The rhythm of words and the choice of phrases is poetic.
The book chronicles the infatuations of the protagonist in her adolescent years and a spill of affairs in her adult life. Many of these men are good looking, there's the occasional ugly guy, and the earliest acknowledgement of love is merely a recollection of a strong pair of arms holding her to a male chest when she was barely eight.
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Abeer is forced into marriage at age 19 to a much senior man, Ronnie, being treated for a long standing psychiatric problem. She discovers that Ronnie has spent the last 15 years pining over an unrequited love. The loveless marriage drives her into the arms of other men, in a frustrated search for love and understanding.
The books explores the horrors of relationships turned awry, both in Abeer's life and the lives of her friends and family. Ironically the only man who expresses his love for her and offers her marriage is also one she takes advantage of to drive away her loneliness.
Much of the book focuses on the unsuitability of her suitors and the impracticality of a long-term relationship. Abeer's despair turns suicidal more than once, but despair never turns to apathy. Even in the depths of her misery she is alert enough to make an unspoken emotional connection with the good looking doctor attending to her.
The situations are a bit unconvincing, from the “frigid” husband who urges her to consider extra-marital affairs to the diehard “yours forever” childhood sweetheart who never breaks up his parallel relationship with his fiancé Charu, and ends up marrying Charu, because, what's the use, he could never stop Abeer's marriage anyway. Never mind, that she was far more approachable those couple of years she spent as a single, away from home in her friend's house in Delhi.
Emotional needs
In the 12 years that span the book, there is no “Aha” moment when she finds her place in the circle of life. One wonders if, as Abeer rushes into motherhood, she ever reaches a maturity that transcends the need to be picked up and held, to be consoled and cared for; if she ever makes the shift from being the object of care to the caregiver. All through her advancing twenties, Abeer is unable to distinguish between a relationship letdown and a serious transgression such as unconsummated marriage, much less deal with the problem. An unconsummated marriage of nine years is not grounds for divorce, it cries out for an annulment.
In the final pages of the book, Abeer leaves the tepid environment of her husband's home back into the “care” of her father.