The British ruled India for close to 200 years. One of the spinoffs of British rule was the English language that is spoken and understood by millions of Indians today. It will not be out of place to mention that the English knowing population in India is more than the population of the UK and Canada combined. It's almost equal the population of the United States. This had its effect and a string of writers from Mulkraj Anand, Kushwant Singh, Manohar Malgonkar, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Vikram Seth has appeared on the scene. Indian writers in English are well known and have carved a niche for themselves in the world of English literature.
Vikram Seth
Out of these famous names Vikram Seth has carved a niche for himself in the field of English Literature. Seth was born in Calcutta in 1952 and now alternates between England and New Delhi. He has written a number of books and novels that have won critical acclaim. Vikram has bought the house of the Anglican poet George Herbert in 1996. He got it renovated. In India he lives at Delhi with his parents.
An Equal Music
One of his novels 'An Equal Music' was published in 1999. This book published after the success of 'A Suitable Boy' in 1993 has been greatly appreciated by critics. One aspect of Vikram Seth's books stands out. The writer has himself acknowledged that most of the fictional characters depicted in his books are drawn from his personal life. His mother Justice Leila Seth in her autobiography has mentioned that the character Haresh in 'A Suitable Boy' is based on her husband. In 'An Equal Music', Seth has himself hinted that the idea of the novel was inspired by his live in partner at that time the French musician Philippe Honoré.
Vikram Seth is an inspired writer who can integrate real life characters in his fictional book.
The Plot
The novel is set in Europe with Venice and Vienna forming a magnificent backdrop. The plot concerns Michael, a professional violinist, who loved a pianist, named Julia a decade back. However Julia remains in his thoughts and he just cannot forget her. In fact he really loved her. Seth writes a tale of romance and love as Julia re-enters the life of Michael after 10 years.
The situation has changed as Julia is married and has a child. Romance blossoms between the two and the lovers confront the truth about themselves. Seth brings out the intense love between the two as they meet in secret. The secret trysts are a beauty of the novel and shows the forte of Vikram Seth as a creative writer. There is a twist to the tale as the musical careers of the lovers is affected and there is a deep pathos as the knowledge dawns on Michael that Julia is lowly going deaf. This also affects the reader as he gets to grips with the book.
Vikram's Forte
Vikram Seth writes brilliantly and portrays the international music scene vividly. The accuracy of Seth's descriptions of music in particular enthused musical fans. No less than Paolo Isotta a renowned music critic in Il Corriere della Sera has stated that no European writer or any novel before had been able to convey the full gamut and potential of a person who practiced music for a living. This is a matter of great credit for Vikram Seth and a feather in his cap.
Awards
Vikram Seth has been honoured by the government of India with a Padma Shri. He has also won the WH Smith Literary Award and Crossword Book Award. Vikram Seth remains one of India's finest writers. Seth claims he is bisexual and in 2006 he led the campaign in India which called for deletion of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which concerns homosexuality.
Personal Life
Vikram Seth never formally married though he had close liaison with women. He is bisexual and lived for years with French musician Philippe Honoré. Seth has no children and lives with his parents. He was earlier educated at the prestigious Doon School and went to Oxford. Seth deserves credit for writing in a language which is not his mother tongue. One can look forward to further books from him. Vikram Seth is a Punjabi and has punctured the fallacious concept that Punjabi are not for intellectual pursuits.
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