The Inheritance Of Loss By Kiran Desai

Definitely the book deserved what it get i.e. The Man Booker Prize 2006.Ms. Desai has given s very detailed description of the situation prevailing during the 1980s.Written upon the background of Nepalese insurgency to claim a Gorkhaland,similar to that of Khalistan,story has been beautifully woven around its characters-
Justice Jemubhai Patel,a retired judge who went to U.S. for getting into I.C.S. returned as a totally different person from what he used to be,typically westernized or rather trying to be westernize,disliked India & Indians,,disgusted his wife Nimi,when she was pregnant,for the sake of his fake manners & etiqueettes.His experiences had made him phlegmatic devoid of any single humane pleasure but just a martinet for whom nobody else but he is important.He tries to move away from his past but his memories keep on hunching back.
Sai,Justice Jemubhai Patel’s maternal grand daughter who was forced to join her grandfather in  Cho Oyu in his solitude because of the unfortunate demise of both her parents.She was accompanied by her friend,Lola,a widow,her sister Noni,a spinster,Uncle Potty,a drunkard & Father Booty.Later as the story moves on comes in her life her Hero,Gyan,as her mathematics tutor & later her lover.
The Cook,who remained  unnamed throughout the story is the one who is waiting for nothing else but his only son,Biju,who has gone to America to earn money.
Closely & charmingly has the writer interwoven the story around these 3 character shifting focus from one to another describing each’s pains,sorrows,moment of joy,guilt etc.The judge regrets for illtreating his wife,Nimi,the cook is waiting for his only son,in the mean while,is showering his love on Sai.Sai falls into love with a poor GLNF supporter who deserted her for his due cause of free Gorkhaland for Gorkhas,wants him back.Lola & Noni are facing problems like their beautiful cottage,Mon Ami,annexed by insurgents.Father Booty facing an immigration problem as being a swiss resident,he was asked to move back to his native country after spending 45 years in Kalimpong running his dairy.
Thus,each & everybody is busy & engaged in their own adversaries but at the same time they are deeply involved in other’s lives also playing a crucial role.The novel is at times comical & at times it is contemplative.Her Dark Humor,description of the laughter of the dispossessed are fiercely funny.The novel is undoubtedly extraordinary,astonishingly observant & inventive.Author has written about the postcolonial India,of in poor as well as its privileged,with a cold eye & a warm heart.The novel is definitely an abstruse,mature & a first-rate read.