A River Sutra

As an undergraduate student of comparative religions I've become gradually acquainted with the complex mosaic that is multireligious India. For an area that saw the birth of Buddhism, Vedic Brahmanism, Jainism and Classical Indian Theism (aka "Hinduism") as well as one that was historically also home to ancient Jewish, later Christian, and one of the largest populations of Muslims in the world, a lot of people in the west know very little about the rich cultural, religious and social history of the Indian subcontinent. This book is not only an excellent, accurate portrayal of the variegated cultural situation in India, it's also an engaging, well-written, compelling collection of short stories that stands on its own as a work of fiction. Mehta tells the story of a retired government official who now resides on one of the largest and holiest rivers in India. The official was never a religious man, but now that he has a chance to relax and observe his surroundings, he is able to take in the diversity around him and start his own query into the spiritual side of life. Using this frame, Mehta illustrates the official's encounters with numerous characters who, each in turn, tell their stories to the retired official. As the collection progresses, he encounters many characters, including a Jain mendicant, a Muslim music teacher, a wandering ascetic, a courtesan seeking her kidnapped daughter, a virtuoso sitar player, and a tea plantation official who has encountered Nagas. Throughout, Mehta uses each character to explore different religious themes that are represented in India and weaves them all into a cohesive search for spiritual truth, all with a surprising ending that will make you want to re-read the whole book just so you can try to understand. A River Sutra is easy to read and enjoyable too. I read this book as a culmination for a course on religion in India and found it to be an excellent fictional summation of different religious themes that I had already learned about. Although I already had read more "academic" and traditional texts about these subjects, this book was a welcome take on each religion interacting with others. Sure, there are more technically informing textbooks and religious texts you could read to understand beliefs and practices of Indians, but you won't get a more enjoyable and readable work of beautiful literature to start off your learning. I think this book will pique your interest in the different subjects and offer you a gateway into many wonderful religious literary and academic traditions (whatever interests you) that you may not have already known about. Out of all the books I've read in courses on religion, A River Sutra is the one I most often recommend to anyone and everyone who likes a good book.

I will first say that as a first generation Indian in America who has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge of the Indian culture, I may hold a bias as to my opinion of this book. I found the way Gita Mehta set up her stories all to be woven by together by so many common threads (the Narmada, trying to understand one another, finding love) to be amazing. She shows how a country in the 20th century still tries so hard to preserve their culture and traditions and place emphasis on the spiritual life, instead of just diving into the world of technology that has captivated so many of us. Through stories which evoke empathy for the main characters, the reader feels as if they can truly relate to the characters. Mehta shows true talent through her writing in this book, but her real strength lies in her ability to paint such clear images using only words. As a reader, you can see the gentle current of the Narmada and you can hear the soothing chants of meditating monks. I lost myself in the words on the pages and found myself again sitting somewhere between the Jain monk and the Naga Baba. Mehta succeeds in taking her readers to a place far from the real world, where they can reach a certain degree of clarity. As a reader, you will like the places Mehta will take you with words, and how she makes you question what you put emphasis on in life. Nothing about this book left me unsatisfied, although the continuous change of scenery often left me a little confused. By clearly separating story scenes from the "present day" scenes with the narrator, the book as a whole would have gelled together more smoothly. For the reader with a passion for the Indian culture and who is able to recognize the beauty in simplicity, this book is amust-read.

I had to buy this book for my Asian literature class at the university. But when the quarter had come to its end, I did not want to sell it (which is what I do with so many other books). This book took my breath away, while I was reading it for the first time, and it still does, because I re-read it at least once a month. If I don't have time to read it all or when I feel down, I just open up any passage at random and read couple of sentences. The beauty of River Sutra is very much in the hands of its author, Gita Mehta, I must say. I have read many books about India (books, where India has been a subject of a fiction, as it is in this case), but River Sutra is not just another book that shows India in a hopelessly romantic way. At first, it may seem as such, because the author does employ magical realism and romanticism in her work. However, if you read it more than once, you will start feeling the power of the narration in a completely different way... You will realize that it is not JUST A ROMANTIC FICTION about oh-so-romantic country... For me, reading this book, in itself, sounds like a mantra (subject, touched on in the book, by the way). Stylistically, Mehta rises to the level of incomparable "1000 and 1 nights" and I have not seen too many contemporary Eastern authors being able to do that. But, what's even more amazing is, that she also manages to bring her work to a modern and a very universal perspective. I hope Mehta keeps writing, and I also hope that one day I have a full collection of her works!

I'm probably a little biased because I am from India, but I like this book a lot. The imagery in this book was simply beautiful and it gave me a similar feeling one might experience when reading an epic poem. I feel this way, at least, when Mehta describes the majestic holines of the Narmada River. Even though I am of Indian heritage, this book offered many new perspectives to me on the lives that go on in India. The sheer number of stories that are shared in this book keep a feeling of freshness throughout the book and keep you from putting the book down, because you are in constant anticipation of another story. This book is different, and the book is written in such a way that it be just as good written in India as it would be written in Siberia.