Review of THE COLOR OF OUR SKY by Amita Trasi

 3 Stars

This novel is a female version of The Kite Runner set in India; it focuses on the friendship between two girls, Mukta and Tara.  Mukta is the Hassan character and Tara is Amir in Khaled Hosseini’s novel.

Born to a temple prostitute, Mukta is intended to follow her mother’s profession, but she is rescued and moves into an upper-class household with a daughter Tara who is two years younger than Mukta.  The two girls develop a strong bond over five years.  Then, when Mukta is fifteen, she is kidnapped and Tara moves to the U.S. with her father.  Eleven years later, Tara returns to India determined to find her childhood friend.

Chapters alternate between the two girls.  Mukta narrates the past, beginning in 1986 when she is living with her mother and grandmother in a village which adheres to the Devadasi tradition, which “dedicates” girls to a life of sex work in the name of religion.  Tara narrates the present, beginning in 2004 when she comes to India to begin her search.  Eventually the two plotlines converge. 

The plot is fairly predictable.  What is intended to be a twist is not really one because Mukta’s description of past events clearly foreshadows the revelation, especially when coupled with Tara’s description of her father’s actions.  I was also not surprised by the romance element or the rather melodramatic ending. 

Tara is not a character with whom I could connect.  She comes across as self-centred; her search for Mukta is not so much motivated by love as by guilt and a need for redemption.  The constant repetition of her feelings of guilt becomes tiresome, especially when it is obvious almost from the beginning that she is not responsible for Mukta’s fate.  Tara certainly does not seem deserving of Mukta’s trust and loyalty. 

Mukta is the one who possesses all the positive traits.  She is humble and kind and unfailingly loyal.  Obviously, her tendency to almost deify Tara stems from Mukta’s low self-esteem.  Despite Tara’s mistreatment of her, Mukta focuses on Tara as her saviour.  Considering all that Mukta experiences, she forgives easily and always remains optimistic.  In fact, she becomes almost unbelievable in her goodness. 

Another issue with characterization is that secondary characters are often just dropped from the narrative with no explanation.  Once they have served their purpose, they are simply dismissed.  For instance, Madam shows herself to be very determined to keep her property, but we are supposed to believe that she will not pursue Mukta or Asha?  A grandmother appears for a chapter and then, for all intents and purposes, disappears?

I learned a lot more about India’s caste system, especially the Devadasi tradition.  I was inspired to do further research and discovered the impact of British rule:  traditionally Devadasis were celibate but the loss of their means of support and patronage when kings, the patrons of temples, lost their power forced them to become temple prostitutes.  Colonialism has been such a scourge for so many!

This was an audiobook for me, and I must admit it was an enjoyable companion on morning walks.  I was sufficiently interested to keep listening, though it is predictable and not without its flaws.  Definitely, on the escapist/interpretive spectrum, it is much closer to escapist literature.