Madras on Rainy Days

by Samina Ali

Layla is torn between clashing identities - the dutiful Muslim daughter her immigrant parents raised her to be, the Indian she fantasizes she is, and the free, independent woman America has awakened in her. At nineteen, her parents inform Layla that a marriage has been arranged for her. Her wedding will be in India, to Sameer, a handsome, ambitious Indian engineer, who knows nothing of Layla's American self and who has some potent secrets of his own. A stunned Layla submits reluctantly, but not before she commits a dangerous, final act of defiance. In the heat and noise of Hyderabad, as her wedding looms, her behaviour becomes more erratic. Her mother, fearing demonic possession, takes Layla on a series of visits to alims - Muslim faith healers - hoping to exorcise all traces of rebellion. To Layla's surprise, the ancient and elaborate wedding rituals, her groom's physical beauty, and the warm welcome of her new family fill her with a sense of belonging she has never known before. Yet on her honeymoon in Madras, with the monsoon rains drumming ceaselessly outside, the full horror of the devil's bargain she has made is revealed, forcing her to make painful decisions about her roles as a Muslim, a wife and a woman. Set against the backdrop of the ancient walled city of Hyderabad and mounting Hindu-Muslim tensions, MADRAS ON RAINY DAYS, lyrically evokes the complexities of life behind the chador. It is a gorgeously written novel by an original new voice in international fiction.

Genres: Fiction, India, Indian Literature, Literature, Book Club, Contemporary, Muslims

309 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Samina’s debut novel, Madras on Rainy Days, was the winner of France’s prestigious Prix Premier Roman Étranger Award and a finalist for both the PEN/Hemingway Award in Fiction and the California Book Reviewers Award. Poets & Writers Magazine named it a Top Debut of the Year. In 2013, she curated the acclaimed global exhibition Muslima: Muslim Women’s Art & Voices, showcasing work by Muslim women artists, activists, and thought leaders around the world. Her Tedx talk has over 8 million views. Her upcoming memoir, Pieces You’ll Never Get Back, is a harrowing story about her unlikely survival after the birth of her son.

Reviews

[Jim Fonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of cultural conflict and about the stresses endured by Layla, a modern young Muslim woman in India who is pressured – forced - into a marriage to a man picked out by her mother. I say she’s ‘modern’ because she has spent quite a bit of time going to school in the US where her father is an M.D. He left her mother in India and married an American woman.



Alternating schools between the US and India makes her feel like ‘the other.’ Her American school friends think of her as ‘the Indian girl.’ Her Indian friends think of her as ‘the American girl.’

The man Layla’s mother has picked out for her is young, good looking and college educated, so her mother can’t understand her resistance. Her mother assumes she’s possessed. She takes her to a spiritual healer to force out the evil spirits. Then she locks her in her bedroom until she finally agrees to the marriage.

We learn a lot from Layla about being a Muslim in predominantly Hindu India. But she tells us she's not very devout. Her family’s religious practices are halfhearted. They don't pray five times a day when they hear the call to prayer but they do maintain silence. She fasts for four days not 30. She's never read the Koran. She tells us there are Muslim men who are actors in Bollywood movies but they always have to play Hindus.

After her marriage, she moves in with her in-laws. It turns out that she likes her husband and she starts to fall in love with him but where’s the affection on his part? He says all the right things and seems like a nice guy but he’s out every night, although that’s not unusual for Muslim men. Her husband is obsessed with moving to the US. He’s one of those guys who thinks the streets are paved with gold. Layla worries that that’s why he married her – because she knows the ropes about living in the US and has connections through her father.

More pressure: Layla’s mother-in-law, whom she likes and respects, is very religious. Her son has drifted away from his religion. The mother-in-law expects Layla to somehow pressure her husband not only to stay in India but even get him to rejoin the family in praying five times a day! The Muslim man does what he wants, so how is this going to happen?

There’s an undercurrent of the threat of Hindu violence to Muslims throughout the story. There’s a pogrom near the end of the story and the violence affects Layla directly in an atrocity. Hindu thugs invade their neighborhood and Layla’s best friend, who is pregnant, is raped and killed by a Hindu biker gang.

In a fascinating passage Layla tells us that among Muslims in India a woman is seldom called by her name. She is defined by her relations to other people. “Like me, she was a bevi, wife, bhabhi, sister-in-law, then also apa , sister, amme, mother, and even sauken, the other woman.” Defined, as most woman were here, by how she was related to others. Indeed, a woman could not be on her own, her dependency constructed even in language.”

They have a delayed honeymoon in Madras (the title). And there’s a mystery. Who is the woman in full burka following them around in Madras on their honeymoon? It’s not a woman.

Wasn't there a TV show years ago called can this marriage be saved? That kept coming to mind. So can this marriage be saved? There’s a surprise ending.

A quote I liked: “A rich man is not the one who has the most, but the one who desires the least.”



The author (b. 1969) is an American author born in India. This novel won France’s Prix du Premier Roman Etranger award and it was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. The book was written in English and published in 2004 but it appears to be the only novel the author has written.

Top photo: a Hindu temple in Chennai (formerly Madras) from Britannica.com
The author from saminaali.net

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got through 80 pages of this book, and gave up! Its poorly structured..seemingly endless description of the marriage and her dilemma about her fiance and her condition.. I never did understand after getting through quarter of the book if she was pregnant or not or was mentally disturbed or some other psychic problem! Thought i would give a new Indian author a try.. but this was a disappointment!

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had just finished reading North from Calcutta by Duane Evans and was thinking of the Business World review which complained about the lack of Indian literary fiction written by actual Indians. The article contended there was plenty of pulp fiction published every year but rarely was it written in English or translated into English. India was therefore left to outsiders to represent itself to the rest of the world.

I don't know how valid the Business World observation is but it did get me to thinking and I had it in mind when my eyes were attracted by the beautiful colors on the cover of Madras on Rainy Days by Samina Ali. A quick look at the author info on the back jacket flap and I saw that she had been born in Hyderabad and raised there and in the United States. I thought it a perfect book to use to expand my horizons.

Madras on Rainy Days focuses on an arranged marriage. A nineteen year old Muslim woman has been called home from the United States to marry a man she has never met. She has come home though bleeding from an unplanned pregnancy. She is damaged goods but her family has so much riding on the marriage that she doesn't tell anyone her secret, instead allowing them to believe she might be possessed by demons.

Her miscarriage is one of two elephants in the room that everyone pretends not see. The other is her husband's homosexuality. Both secrets are revealed in the context of Indian Muslim traditions and families that are somewhat broken.

I can't say I loved the novel but I did appreciate Ali's way of weaving in the rich details of Layla's marriage and day to day life in Hyderabad. She manages to engage all the senses with enough detail to paint a vivid picture even if one isn't familiar with all the words used. It's a short but ponderous novel that requires a slower than normal pace of reading.

[Sarah Knits · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book after seeing the author, Samina Ali, in a video TED talk explaining the origins of the term 'hijab' and what it meant, and importantly, didn't mean. She was captivating. Her words uttered like a poem. She is a brilliant storyteller.
(Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J5bD...)

So, I looked her up and discovered she'd written a book. Madras On Rainy Days. My local library didn't have it but at my urging, purchased it and I got to read it first. I was so excited.

The journey this book takes is meaningful yet heartbreaking. It was a struggle but ultimately redemptive. It showed me close up a glimpse of a life I knew I would know almost nothing about. The emotions so familiar, the landscape so unknown. This is a book of dichotomies. The Us & Them. American & Indian. Muslim & Hindu. Men & Women. Parents & Children. Old & Young. Tradition & Modernity. The Whole & The Individual.

Through all the divisions, the narrative meditates on the fact that it isn't all one thing or another. It isn't all right and all wrong. How many of the dichotomies are false? How many are maintained by the very people that don't want them?

I'm so glad I read this book. It was as eye opening as I expected from a gifted storyteller like Samina Ali.

There are many difficult subjects. Content warnings for the following:
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Abuse
Animal Cruelty
Murder
Rape
Pregnancy
Abortion/Miscarriage
Blood
Death
Sexism/Misogyny
Classism
Religious Intolerance
Homophobia/Heterosexism

[Nags · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was fine with how the book started. Until about page 20 that is. Then it went downhill. The main character had some problem, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out if she was pregnant or on her period or delusional! It was frustrating. The language was frustrating, the ambiguous narration was irritating and to top it all, the servants in the book were always talking long paragraphs of broken English and I felt like I had to endure these nails-screeching-on-blackboard portions to get through the book. After going through about 3/4ths of it, I gave up, skimmed it, and called it a day.

Use this time to read something else, take my word.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intimate look inside the world of a Muslim woman in India.

[Ming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madras on Rainy Days has been overlooked. I am grateful and honored to have read it.

This book is haunting as you begin to feel as the main character does and become more drawn to her experience. The story itself is complex and compelling. I found the psychological and emotional portrayal of Layla and other characters to be intricate, multi-layered and intriguing. It felt honest and I empathized with the characters. I especially appreciated Layla's feeling straddled between two cultures and its resulting confusion is described.

Reading this book was a pleasure; it held my attention. And the beauty of the writing augments the story itself and the thoughtful and deep characterizations. I'm definitely keeping an eye out for this author's next book.

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story started out really slow and I had a hard time staying interested, but then almost halfway through, it picked up steam and I wanted to know how the story ended. I agree with some of the previous reviewers in that I was so confused as to what was wrong with the protagonist and her never ending bleeding. The servants' dialogue were also hard to follow and I had to reread a few of them to understand what they were trying to say. The author kept rattling on in some parts where she could have been more succinct and made for a more engaging read. The ending was left too open ended, so that was disappointing. Overall, an ok read, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Sana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never did I dislike a book so much! I couldn't relate to any of the so-called Indian Muslim traditions stated in the book, even though I spent a good part of my life in the city where most of the story is set. The synopsis on the book cover made it sound like an interesting read, it just turned out to be a disappointing one.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

My main issue with this book is that it had a tendency to fixate heavily on (supposedly) key moments in the character’s lives that were, ultimately, not expanded on or all that insightful in shedding light on their decisions and actions. The most notable example is the prologue, which is later revealed to be Layla’s family’s discovery (particular her mother’s) of her relationship with Nate, with Layla locking herself in a room to prevent her arranged engagement (and eventual marriage) to Sameer. Despite this memory coming up time and time again as an insight into Layla’s relationship with her mother, it doesn’t do so in a way that reveals anything new - since pretty much every conversation between Layla and her mother reflects the same theme of her US and Indian identities being at odds with one another. In the same vain, despite its intention to represent Layla’s defiance to her family’s ideals, this flashback doesn’t really inform Layla’s character arc - since she spends most of the middle portion of the novel focusing on how to adapt before shifting to the desire to flee from her husband and his family. Instead of connecting that adapt vs. flee mindset to the struggle between her competing identities, the inciting incidents for Layla’s rebellion are the reveal of Sameer’s affair and the death of Henna - which sends a completely different message than what was built by the author in these flashbacks.

As such, it honestly felt like a lot of the plot points were their own, individual stories rather than a unified narrative - since there was so much jumping around, and in particular, a lot of plot twists at the end that weren’t given enough time to be expanded on (Sameer’s affair, Henna’s death, etc)

In terms of positives, I did love the depiction of the wedding and thought the author did a fantastic job of incorporating very rich descriptions about different religious and cultural traditions. Although there were certain elements that I think could’ve been excluded - in particular, the consistent reference to Sameer licking the space in between his teeth - the author is clearly effective at putting together a vivid yet digestible narrative.

[Ellen F]

Tried to read but it was just too difficult for me. I couldn't keep track of the characters, and their motivations were too foreign for me.

[Siobhan Malany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel takes readers inside Muslim family life surrounding the preparations and events of an arranged marriage and reveals the dual culture conflicts that first-generation American’s endure. Samina Ali brings a feminist voice to Islamist women living in India and the US.

As an author, this book made me think about how I wanted to write Mehendi Tides and how it would be different from books written by Indian writers. In Mehendi Tides, I sought not to reconcile Islam with modernity but to reconcile misconceptions between Muslim and non-Muslim women while still addressing the controversial themes surrounding the modern, independent women.

[Bharti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Madras on rainy days is about a daughter and wedding as per the wishes of her parents. Reading the book blurb/summary you will never guess the different layers explored in the story.

Madras is the pivotal moment in the story, a turning point which is what the lead character remembers it by her life changing experience in India.

Layla spends half her time in India back with her conservative parents to ensure they stay close to their culture. Having done the back and forth most of her life Layla has made her peace with it but the nagging doubts are more prominent and troubling when she is to be married this time around. Layla like a dutiful daughter of strict, conservative Muslim parents is to stay away from her American school mates especially boys. But fate puts Nate in her path and she commits all the forbidden to her acts with Nate. Back in India a different kind of trouble is waiting for her. Layla goes through tremendous physical and emotional struggle days before she gets married. But the real emotional struggle and fight starts post marriage until she flies back free to a life she knows.

The story is a glimpse in a culture, lives of people who largely keep their culture, beliefs and family life closely guarded. It is a community which knows exactly what goes on in every ones homes. The story is so focussed on the families and their tight knit circle it felt like witnessing something hidden; like coming across their intimate secrets. The setting of the story was such that it obviously made me a bit uncomfortable and frustrated at some of the beliefs and practices. It is a story too close for comfort, it's intricacies, secrets and lies are not for everyone. It is definitely not a feel good, happy story about displaced Indians it goes deeper and may shock you too at places.
The practices and lies of the characters is what put me off from an otherwise well written story.

[Nikhil · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5. Much better than I first anticipated. This book is a slow-moving and weighty unfolding of three months of a marriage. The book is very specific to a community of former land-owning Muslim elite dispossessed of their property and status through the modern nation state. Many of the gender and fertility norms she describes, are specific not to Islam or South Asia, but to the particular former landowning elite in South India. I found the texts portrayal of abusive family dynamics, violent familial memory, and social violence to be poignant and sophisticated.

The texts postitioning of Indian musliims as liminal within the Indian nation-state by virtue of their religion, liminal within an imagined Islamic world by virtue of their skin and birthplace, and liminal within the United States by virtue of all three, was particularly well done. As was the juxtaposition of these seclusions and exclusions with that of the harem and the veil. The restrictions of the harem and the veil do at least confer some freedoms and honors. The confinement’s of the modern nation state offer none.

This book should receive more acclaim than it does. Contrast this text with literary darling jhumpa lahiri. I would argue that the latter enjoys such success because she presents easily digestible stories for Western audiences with the veneer of exoticism to make her seem novel. In contrast, I found this book far less accessible to those unfamiliar with particulars of marriage, sexual, and fertility norms and rituals in certain Indian Muslim communities. The text is also more disturbing and unapologetic about its discussions of bodies, sex, fertility, and violence. Read this book instead.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Layla, the young protagonist, spends half the year in Minneapolis with her blended but broken nuclear family, the other half in Hyderabad with this family and a large community of relatives and friends.

The story centers around Layla's return to Hyderabad to reluctantly complete an arranged marriage and continues through the early weeks of the marriage. Layla and her groom, Sameer, each harbor devastating secrets that play out in rather predictable but still engrossing ways.

THe plot does spiral into the melodramatic and slightly lurid, with tantalizing foreplay on a motorcyle in a monsoon downpour, a young bride held against her will, Sameer's "secret" pretty easily divined early in the novel and culminating in a hideous event- I felt slammed over the head with a sledgehammer by all of the monumental events that happen to this young woman in the space of a couple of months.

What I most appreciated about this book was the detailed portrait of an Indian Muslim community struggling to maintain its cultural traditions while moving headlong into the modern, Westernized world. Ali conveys the protagonist's and other characters' cultural confusion- the identity crises, the faulty expectations, the hopes and disappointments- in unsentimental but expressive and colorful language.

[Malmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started reading with enthusiasm gritted my teeth and persevered through repetitive prose while the story lead nowhere for 150 or so pages. Finally gave up and skimmed through the last 100 pages.

A book if had been written well addresses some important aspects of traditions and culture.

I felt as if things described in this book related to Islam and Indian culture were a bit exaggerated. Maybe because the author is an NRI.

[Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book bothered me. It started out ok but it quickly got broody which turned into whiny and then to flat out annoying. I will say, that I did learn a little bit about some of the Indian Muslim traditions, that was pretty interesting.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was well written, interesting characters. I wanted to finish it to find out what happens to everyone. It does explore bi-cultural issues in an interesting way. But it's rather depressing. One tragedy after another.

[Brandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

book was ok. although some of the language and seemingly unnecessary details clouded the story, I continued to read bc I was interested in what was next. the story continued, even after the big reveal 3/4 of the way, but I eventually put the book down for good. couldn't take the rest.

[The Blaxpat · Rating 1 out of 5]

uhhh... 150 pages of going on and on about her umrikan ex?!... its a pretty tritely written text despite the fact that its topics are really rarely addressed in Indian (esp south Indian) culture/texts. could have been better executed...

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I've recommended to several people. It's about a marriage destined not to succeed, and the turmoil that results from familial pressure to conform to a predetermined view of how one should live one's life.

[sumaiyya · Rating 1 out of 5]

poorly written. very boring.

[Sumera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though I enjoyed the author's style of writing, I found the content to be too depressing and a little over the edge.

[Husna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't put it down until I finished it. Not necessarily because I liked it, but because it was like a bizarre episode that needed to be concluded.

[Jenni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the greatest writing, but a compelling story.

[A · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this it was so slow to develop, and painful!

[Kieran Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Great fictional account of the post Indira Ghandi assasination massacres. Fantastic writer.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had some unexpected twists. I love learning about other cultures.

[Sabah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful! Left a nasty feeling at then end. A truly dysfunctional Indian Muslim woman and her family.

[Sita · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out as an ok read but took a very twisted turn at the end.