Dr. Suchita Malik, an alumnus of Lady Shri Ram College
for Women, University of Delhi has earned her PhD from Panjab
University. A keen academic, she has taught English Literature for more
than three decades. Besides contributing middles, feature articles and
travelogues to national newspapers, she has authored four novels, titled
Indian Memsahib, Memsahib’s Chronicles, Women Extraordinaire and Scent of the Soil. She can be reached at dr.suchitamalik@gmail.com and http://www.suchitamalik.com/
An outline of the novels by Suchita Malik
“Indian Memsahib – the untold story of a bureaucrat’s
wife” [Debut novel by Suchita Malik; Published by Rupa & Co.;
Released in December 2008 at New Delhi]
This
debut novel is an untold story of a bureaucrat’s wife, which provides
an unconventional look into the world of Indian Bureaucracy. ‘Indian
Memsahib’ lifts the veil off ground reality a little bit; it is a peep
into the life of a bureaucrat’s wife, a life that is full of excitement,
struggles, challenges, apprehensions and all the ups and downs that
define the nuts and bolts of babudom.
The novel takes one through the fascinating life journey of a
bureaucrat’s wife - she wants to be more than a trophy wife of a civil
servant and struggles to come out of its shadow. Ultimately, she is
faced with an identity crisis as she asks herself as to which world she
belongs to --- her own career or that of her husband.
The novel remained on the best-seller list and has been through four
reprints.
“Memsahib’s Chronicles: a story of grit and glamour” [Second novel by Suchita Malik; Published by Rupa & Co. Released in Feb. 2011 at New Delhi]
Raghu and Sunanina, the protagonists of ‘Indian Memsahib’, continue to
retain the centre-stage in this book, being a sequel. The female
protagonist is also the narrator of the story knitted through a number
of episodes. It is a bit different from her debut novel as it alternates
between the comment on serious business and the glamour of the
better-halves as she observes. The book presents the amazing world of
the civil servants as it is – full of grit, glamour, tensions,
temptations and privileges. Glamorous and gutsy, the highly adaptable
memsahibs constitute the backbone of the world of sahib-log without
letting them bother much on the domestic front. The author takes the
reader along her journey with the ease of a garden walk.
“Women Extraordinaire” Suchita Malik launched her third novel titled ‘Women Extraordinaire’, published by Rupa & Co., initially at New Delhi on 11th February, 2014, followed by its launch at Chandigarh on 1st March 2014.
“The theme and subject of my third novel is altogether new. It is not a
story of some extraordinary women, as the reckoning would generally go,
it is the saga of three generations of women living through the same
vicissitudes of life as ordinary women do, but who stand out for their
challenge to the orthodox views about women, stand up to their own
convictions and thus become women extraordinaire,” holds Suchita Malik.
Talking about the plot, characters and writing style of the novel,
Suchita said, “I did face the dilemma between keeping it a neat and
clean narrative in the classical style of Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen,
Bronte sisters or George Eliot on the one hand, and making it spicy with
additives of some relationships or sex to cater to the current market
trends. I chose the former. This novel can be read by a mother to her
daughter or vice versa without any reservations.”
“Scent of the Soil – A Civil Servant Returns to His Roots” [Fourth novel by Suchita Malik; Published by Rupa & Co. Released in Delhi on 25th February 2017, followed by its launch at Chandigarh on 25th March 2017]
The Civil Service once again, much like the first two novels, sets the
backdrop of this novel. But then, it provides only a platform for the
protagonist to view his life in its entirety with its compulsions and
limitations apart from its privileges and rewards. The mammoth canvass
of bureaucracy helps in bringing to the forefront the paradox and the
ambivalence of his professional life and Shubhojit is driven to take
stock and view in hindsight what he has gained and lost in the personal
context too. The author has structured sub-plot within the main plot
which takes the novel to a sociological plane. And he takes a call,
much to the consternation of all... to listen to his inner voice, follow
his instincts and make an experiment to find out the truth of life...
of responding to the Scent of the Soil and the call of the wild.
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