THE TOUCH OF BREEZE (2023) – Last year Balladeer’s Blog reviewed Love of Rain, Indian authoress Pritilata Nandi’s brilliant and moving collection of short stories about Indian life. Nandi has followed that up with a novel about emotional upheaval and eventual atonement … to whatever degree is possible in life.
I’m fairly cynical and jaded but Pritilata has a gift for making even someone like me feel moved by the storm of emotions she conjures up. Through her characters Susmita and her granddaughter Silpa readers get introduced to a family from India who are about to travel to Hawaii.
Susmita, a teacher turned author (like Nandi herself) had hoped to take such a trip with her husband Arijit but unfortunately, he has passed away. The widow will be traveling there with Silpa and her parents, and we get some wonderful bonding between grandmother and granddaughter.
Nandi’s writing is absorbing and lets a reader immerse themselves in aspects of Indian culture that they may never have been exposed to before. Not just regarding families but also romantic relationships through arranged marriages. Also, Silpa has a teenaged romance that she is terrified her mother Rina will find out about, though she trusts her grandmother Susmita with the information.
We then get a fascinating dive into the grandmother’s life story, including uncomfortable situations like the way her new husband Arijit replaced her birth control pills with vitamin pills because he wanted children right away. Susmita had to deal with the fallout from that deception and struggle with her decision about the pregnancy she felt unready for.
From there, the writer Pritilata Nandi weaves a web of interlocking storylines with surprising finesse for such a new author. The resulting picture of Indian family life, culture and politics is moving and informative.
Nandi’s novel reminds me of the films of the Indian director Satyajit Ray in terms of their emotional impact and artistic presentation of Indian life and values. The Touch of Breeze can be compared to Ray’s Apu Trilogy but its female perspective gives it overtones of his film Mahanagar whose unconventional and iconoclastic heroine would likely befriend someone like Susmita.
The genre of social dramas may not be new, but what Pritilata Nandi does with it IS. Her writing never lets its sophistication overwhelm its passion and feelings of shared humanity across cultures.
I’ll avoid spoilers, suffice it to say Nandi presents heartbreaking tragedies that can drain you but simultaneously prompt you to admire the resilience and perseverance of her characters. It may seem odd for a male reviewer like me to write this, but a reader almost wants to hug many of Pritilata’s characters and tell them you empathize and that you want some form of happiness for them.
Luckily a degree of happiness does come to most of them, but it’s not the lot of human beings to live without experiencing any pain or that particular heartache that comes from watching loved ones suffer.
That Nandi’s writing can put a jaded guy like me in that position is a testament to her talent. The Touch of Breeze deserves a wide audience, and at just 164 pages it goes by like the wind, or, well, like a breeze. Hopefully a movie adaptation will be done someday.
*** To buy The Touch of Breeze click HERE.
*** For Nandi’s blog click HERE.
Balladeer's Blog 
Great book review. I don’t find much time to read books nowadays but “The Touch of Breeze” appears to be fascinating to me. I’ve always been drawn towards stories of India. Being a Pakistani person, I relate towards such movies. Pakistan and India are quite similar in their traditions, practices and culture. In this regard, I’ve always had a lifelong love for Bollywood movies. The book “The Touch of Breeze” brought to mind the film “Monsoon Wedding”. Mira Nair’s brilliant film examines the cultures of India involving weddings, arranged marriages and women’s roles in society. Truly an extraordinary film that is worth seeing if you’re interested in Indian culture. It shares quite a few similarities with the “The Touch of Breeze” in its depiction of Indian family life, politics, and culture. It’s one of my favorite Bollywood movies of all-time, and definitely worth a watch.
Here’s why I recommend it strongly:
Thanks! Pritilata deserves all kinds of success! I’m on my way to read your review of Monsoon Wedding!
Thanks for sharing
Glad to do it!
Wow wonderful review 👏 thank you so much 😄 I think everyone will be interested to read this book. Thank you for sharing 😊 salute you. 🫡🫡🫡
You are very, very welcome! I wish you all the success you want!
I am speechless. Thank you so much 😊 may God give me that blessings 🙏
You deserve it! You’re such a kind soul! I hope you liked the comparison with the works of the director Ray.
Ha ha 😂 you are awesome. But don’t say like this Bengali people will get angry with you. He was an unique person 😀 and I am just a very common lady 🥰
You’re too modest.
How do you know 😂 it 😂?
Because you are. 😀
🫡🫡🫡😄😄😄
You’re so nice!
🤗🤗🤗🫡🫡🫡🫡
😀 😀 😀
Amazing!….. Thrilled by the reviews and planning to have it as my next read! 😍✅
That is good to hear! Pritilata is a terrific writer! Thank you for dropping by!
fun Awesome, well done for posting
Thank you very much!