A River Sutra

In the beginning, I had trouble making it past the first few pages. Paragraph by paragraph, I would shut the book and stare at the cover’s picture of a fine linen wrung red—for the bunching and twisting of the crimson cloth corresponded to my own red wound, making me hesitate to dive too deeply into the pages of The River Sutra.Yet once immersed within the profound pages of this linguistic treasure, one will discover as I had, a collection of truths about the very nature of love and desire; of how the nimble fingers of Eros conducts the symphony of our lives, plucking at the strings of our hearts in harmony with his own design.We all wish and long for love, it is only its price that we dismiss with a backwards glance. But who among you who have tasted its nectar would not pay doubly for the experience of its delights? Within the course of The River Sutra we may come to recognize some truths with the painful throb of familiarity, like an old war wound that never quite heals. Some of these truths we may be contented to learn vicariously, grateful that the misfortunes of its lessons have been born by another.  Fulfilling or disappointing, attained or unattainable, an experience in love brands and sears us with its mark— and for better or worse we are irrevocably changed.Whether your experience is that of the monk, whose love directs his eyes ever upward as his feet forever wander, searching for the Beloved whom he’ll only meet when he lays his weary self to rest; whether your experience mirrors that of the executive, whose retreat from the throes of desire made him all the more vulnerable to the casting of its nets; or perhaps your wound corresponds as mine does to that of the courtesan, who tasted a love eternal that was cut short by untimely death and circumstance; even yet you may grasp a glimpse of yourself in the mournful musician whose longing and yearning was left unmet.  At the very least, you may identify, as we all once have, with the passion-timid narrator, who had yet to be possessed by the flaming fury of a consuming love. But at some point, like our world-weary narrator, you will be called to reenter and be swept away in the stream of life, love, and desire.In any case, love and desire are inextricably bound with sorrow—for the inhabitants of this transient world are but visitors in a foreign land. Life is but a breath, but a heartbeat, and we are present only as briefly as a puff of sigh hanging in the winter’s air. And if we are lucky, if we are open, we may be thrown off balance in the midst of our concentration upon the labors of this life, and be as delightfully surprised and arrested by the seductive wonder of desire as even the God Shiva himself once was.

This book is laid out and introduced like a novel, but it actually reads like a collection of almost unrelated episodes and characters seen through the eyes of a high ranking civil servant who decided to "withdraw from the world" after his wife passed away. The childless senior officer applies for a position of manager of a resthouse on the bank of the mystic, mysterious, romantic and holy Narmada River.Gita Mehta paints a beautiful picture of the Narmada River. It winds through vast, lush jungles. On its banks, are tribal people and their curious practices, ascetics seeking enlightenment and pilgrims walking the entire length of the river. Every now and then, the body of an ascetic floats down the river. It would seem that nothing interesting would ever happen here.It is here that our protagonist meets a whole list of diverse characters whose bizarre experiences and illustrious backgrounds provide many eyebrow-raising episodes. Some of these characters have come to seek refuge. Some have come to find their loved ones and some seek "exorcism". A diamond dealer's son, a graduate from the UK who decides to become Jain monk. A music teacher who trains a blind boy to be star, only to lead the child genius to a tragic end. A genteel girl who falls in love with her bandit kidnapper. A womaniser who mends his ways, has a love spell cast on him and breaks the spell by embracing desire once more, helped by tribal people on the Narmada who deal with desire in vastly different ways to the ascetics.From the sober, caustic tone of Karma Cola, Gita Mehta takes on a totally different tone in this book. She gets romantic and passes no judgement on the occult. In fact, it would seem that the author accepts some of the supernatural explanations.Gita Mehta writes beautifully in A River Sutra. That makes this book a very pleasant read, but it is not the kind of literary fiction that it is dressed up to be. There are short plots wrapped up in a couple of chapters, one chapter to introduce the character and one chapter to explain why he/she is in Narmada. Apart from a sophisticated style and diction, frail characterisation and exciting plots make this book more of a popular read.I'll give it 5 stars if it's a collection of short stories that render the protaginist redundant. As a novel-like piece, the protaginist seems to be conveniently placed just to be an observer to bizarre happenings. It's an excellent read, but not the kind of literature I expected. Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East Video Night in Kathmandu: And Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East

The story is about a man who retires from his government job and takes a post at a guest house deep in the jungle along the Narmada River. A variety of people cross his path, all offering different bits of spiritual advice. Although the stories and characters were interesting, I never felt a connection between them. He would begin a conversation with a monk, or a woman or a musician and then they would say, "Let me tell you a story."The stories had different messages for the retired man looking to escape from life. For me at least, I got to the point I didn't want to hear any more stories. I wanted to know the main character's story. It was never told to the extent I wanted to find some satisfaction. The book is beautifully descriptive of the people and places. I didn't feel the stories came together as a cohesive unit. I know I often like things to be tied up in neat little packages and life doesn't resolve itself so easily. I didn't need a pretty bow, I only wanted to see how he processed in his own mind, the lessons told by others.A River Sutra is wonderfully written and has much to teach. I wasn't in the right mindset to learn from it even though I thought I was ready.

Get it, read it. Struggle with desire for the rest of your life.

An excellent book with a great collection of stories. I enjoyed reading this book in class. It was shipped to me in great quality as well.

very interesting book

Stories within a story, a dazzling insight into the Indian culture, its myths, its traditions and everything that is sacred and holy.

As hard as I tried, I could not get into this book. It's just not what I was expecting. It was like something written for a child, maybe it is. JMHO.

This is a tale of tales in a way. The story is based on a nameless government official who retires and heads to the hills in India to live near a river and run an outpost with a guest house. He relates the individual stories of people he encounters while there. I found it rather fragmented and the stories somewhat unconvincing but the author does paint a vivid picture of the landscape and the river and also brings to life one or two people who he has real daily interactions with. Somehow I can believe in them but not in the slightly mythical people in his tales. Many people love this book so give it a try!

This is a superb book - gentle and rolling with amazing descriptions. Some of the stories may be disturbing, but they are true to life and human nature. I already own this book , purchased many years ago. I revisit it from time to time and it never fails to delight. I bought this edition to give as a gift for someone I had mentioned it to and because I never want to loan out my own copy !

My favourite book by Mehta

Found this on a hotel shelf in Benares - Beautifully written novel

one of the few books I would read over and over again.