Book name- THE TIGER’S SHARE
Author- Keshava Guha
Published by- John Murray
Price- Rs 699
Keshava Guha’s second novel decisively focuses on the theme of inheritance. This inheritance is not simply the kind that deals only with land and wealth. Though Guha makes the tension associated with the distribution of inherited wealth palpable, the novel also tries to focus on the inheritance of class, intellect, loss, and disillusionment. At the heart is Guha’s female protagonist, Tara Saxena, a successful lawyer in her mid-thirties. Tara is the kind of daughter who should make every parent proud. Her father, Brahm, indeed is. He periodically highlights her successful jaunt through education. This, however, becomes the central cause of the resentment her mother feels for her. For her, Tara’s intelligence seems to propel the mediocrity of her brother, Rohit. Thoughtless words like, “This one is such a sweet child, but not such a clever one,”
spoken by their aunt, Manju chachi, while comparing the siblings, compelled
their mother to gravitate towards the lesser child in protective angst.
Tara is sought out by her childhood friend, Lila, for her legal expertise. Lila’s father, Mr Chawla, a rich Delhi businessman, died suddenly, leaving matters of the distribution of his massive wealth vague. Like Tara, Lila too has a younger brother, Kunal. The difference is that he was adopted by the Chawlas. While Rohit is sullenly quiet about his inadequacy, Kunal takes an active and aggressive stance after his father’s death. Tara soon understands that Lila’s call for help is about inheritance. While Mr Chawla’s death makes Mrs Chawla the sole owner of his properties by the natural legal order, Kunal takes the opportunity to fashion himself as the new head of family. Lila is vocal about her own superiority to her brother in terms of career and success and cannot digest Kunal’s high-handedness. Kunal’s logic is simple. Not only does his maleness privilege him with the title of family head but, in adopting him, despite already
having a daughter, his parents also “chose” him for this role.
Matters of property and wealth also affect the Saxenas. Brahm Saxena quietly accumulated a sizeable amount of wealth. In a family meeting, which is called the “summit” by Tara, Brahm declares that after contemplating various issues, he had decided to not make his children the inheritors of his properties. While Tara, also self-made and self-sufficient, is somewhat unaffected by this declaration, her mother and brother are aghast. Rohit’s mediocrity makes him vulnerable; without inherited wealth, his future is no longer nestled in snug security. The result of this is the silent expulsion of Tara from her own home. Her financial comfort makes her the target of resentment of Rohit and her own mother. Brahm’s ill-disguised pride for his daughter’s achievements convinces them that she was party to his dark conspiracy.
The money matters of these two families move the story through a whole year. Guha takes this opportunity to offer a series of social, political and environmental perspectives. Cruising through the affluence exuded by Lutyens’ Delhi, the refuge offered by Sunder Nursery to the “Anglophone liberal elite”, its Sunday markets of “artisanal cheese and sourdough and organic this and organic that”, Tara observes the “white and wannabe white” humans who are largely defining the social standards of this new Delhi. These foreign-educated and foreign-return Indians, loud in their disregard for their own country, from its weather to its culture, find new avenues to address these symptoms of decay.
The Tiger’s Share attempts to show us the changing dynamics in Indian society. Guha presents men with inheritance as ineffectual and arrogant; his women, meanwhile, are slowly changing the layout of the Indian home. In an attempt to explain humans and their attitude to the world, Lila brings in the analogy of lions and tigers. Lions tend to be social creatures, central figures in their prides with the lionesses doing the hard work. They bask in their privilege. With tigers the story is different. If the tigress feels a cub won’t survive in the jungle, she eats it. Men in modern India have been delegated the lion’s position. Our women are now inheriting the “tiger’s share” through their grit and determination.
The narrative is tight and thorough. The resolution, though anticipated, still manages to make a significant impact.