Janjhat

Rooplall Motilal Monar

ISBN 10: 0948833300 / ISBN 13: 9780948833304

Published by Peepal Tree Press Ltd, GB, 1989

About this Item

Data and Big-Bye begin their arranged marriage as strangers, sexually ignorant and under the eagle eye of Big-Bye's domineering mooma. She wants Data to be a proper Hindu doolahin, a modest, obedient daughter-in-law. He, still under his mooma's apron strings, regards Data as his sexual plaything. Data has other ideas and her struggle for independence sets off janjhat in the house. The couple's hesitant steps towards understanding are set at the heart of an acute portrayal of a community in deep cultural crisis. Monar gives us unique access to the lives of Indo-Caribbean workers: their hopes and despairs, their religiosity, their poetry, their bawdiness, their sense of cultural continuity and their awareness that their world has changed. Rich and energetic in language, this is a novel which speaks from the midst of the world it describes.Rooplall Monar was born on the Lusignan sugar estate in Guyana in 1945. Apart from brief overseas visits he has lived in Guyana all his life, in Annandale village, East Coast Demerara.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780948833304

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Janjhat
• Publisher: Peepal Tree Press Ltd, GB
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0948833300
• ISBN 13: 9780948833304
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 2nd.
• Condition: New
• Weight: 185 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The lives of Indo-Caribbean workers are explored in this novel. Portrayed are their hopes and despairs, their religious life, their poetry, their bawdiness, their sense of cultural continuity, and their awareness that their world has changed. Data and Big-Bye begin their arranged marriage as strangers, sexually ignorant and under the eagle eye of Big-Bye’s domineering mooma, who wants Data to be a proper Hindu daughter-in-law. Data has other ideas, and her struggle for independence sets off janjhat in the house. The couple’s hesitant steps toward understanding are at the heart of a vivid portrayal of a community in deep cultural crisis. This replaces 0948833300.

About the Author

Rooplall Monar was born in a mud floor logie in Guyana and has lived in Guyana all his life. He has worked as a teacher, accounts clerk, freelance journalist, broadcaster, and practitioner of folk healing. His work has been featured in the anthology They Came in Ships and in The Toronto South Asian Review.