Jeremy Wetmore
on The Romantics by Pankaj Mishra

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The author of The Romantic is Pankaj Mishra who has been collectively labeled as the next best "thing" to emerge from India’s literary community. Unlike Mishra's earlier work, Butter Chicken of Ludhiana, a "travel book" published in 1995, his novel, The Romantics, has been published in dozens of countries and translated into many languages. The Romantics has been reviewed in such internationally renowned literary magazines as New York Review of Books and Times Literary Supplement. The Romantics focuses on India through the eyes of western attitude. Mishra is attempting to find some sense of balance between East and West thought, philosophy, and society.

The main character and narrator of the story is named Samar. Samar is a young Brahmin born in Indian. Mishra and Samar share some characteristics they were both born in 1969 and attended Allahabad University. The commonalities that the author and the main character share, suggest that Samar was made in Mishra’s image. The story begins with a flashback in which Samar reflects upon the year (1989) that he spent in Benares. Samar transferred to Benares from the University of Allahabad following the death of his mother, and his father’s decision to retreat (with an indisposed illness) to Ashram in Pondicherry. Samar arrives in Benares searching for inner peace and tranquility. He plans to occupy himself by studying for the Civil Service Examination referred to as the "Mains" exam. Benares is a Hindu Holy City. The fact that the setting of the book has strong ties to an Eastern religion (Hinduism) is an obvious Eastern philosophy symbol. While living in Benares, Samar is introduced to Western Culture through the character of Ms Diana West. It is my opinion that the Name "West" is too obvious of an image for the author to employ. The introduction of Western society by meeting Ms West and the setting of Benares, Mishra is attempting to explore a possible gentle balance between eastern and western culture. The clash of Eastern and Western Culture sets up an interesting plot for Love and Loss.

After meeting Ms. West, Samar is introduced to a group of Westerner’s that live within the city of Benares: Diana West his reflective neighbor who introduces him to Mark, an American traveler (a Buddhist by religion and philosophy), Mark’s girlfriend Debbie (who has no desire to live in India long term), Sarah a German as well as a Buddhist, Catherine a French woman who Samar falls in love with, and finally Anand an unemployed musician as well as Catherine’s lover. Samar becomes enthralled with western life and thought. Ms West serves as Samar’s connection to western thought and the teachings of: Nietzsche, Mann, Proust, James, Kierkegard, Pascal, Flaubert, Wilson, etc. Samar becomes entranced by Western thought and begins to evaluate his life in accordance with it. At one point in the novel Ms West takes notice of his eagerness to learn about western philosophy: "the tireless autodidact." Samar’s introduction to western thought begins a struggle for balance between Eastern and Western teachings and philosophy within the character of Samar. Samar began to quote his knew found Western teachers in his daily life rather than from his Eastern roots: "I became eager to flaunt my book-learning, and I dropped names left and right: Nietzsche, Mann…"

After several months the connection between Samar and Catherine begins to grow. Catherine invites Samar to take a trip with her to Mussoorie. As the two embark on the trip together they secom to their physical attraction for each other. Upon returning to Benares, Samar comes to realize the harsh reality that Catherine does not reciprocate the same deep seeded feeling that he has for her. Catherine is truly in love with Anand and plans to go with him to live in Paris. Reflecting on his emotional loss Samar takes the opportunity to visit his father in Pondicherry.

Before, Samar leaves for Pondicherry he grows close to a fellow classmate named Rajesh. Rajesh represents the reintroduction of Eastern thought into the novel. Samar has detached himself from campus politics as well as high-tension national politics. Samar’s relationship with Rajesh is problematic in that he wanted no part in violence or criminal actions; Rajesh is the self-proclaimed protector of the Brahmin students, a reader of the Faiz and Iqbal, and a known criminal. Samar saw Rajesh’s actions as a contradiction throughout his entire life: "It had taken me much time to realize the simple fact that Rajesh was struggling to make sense of his life, to connect the desperate elements that existed in it: his self-conscious about his Brahmin identity, the pistols in his room, the talk of illusion and the void." In those words Samar admits his confusion with the physical conflict that he perceives as being hand in hand with Eastern religion and philosophy.

The Romantics discusses the need for balance between Eastern and Western thought, and whether or not it is possible to find. Samar believes his faith in Western life and thought has been lost through his unfrequented love with Catherine. On other hand Samar had lost faith with Eastern thought through his relationship with Rajesh whom Samar views as a totally conflicted personality. Samar decides that he will move to Dharamshala where he will be a primary-school teacher. When Samar moves he plans on staying for a few months, however, he ends up staying for seven years in which he collects his thoughts of philosophy and religion returning to his Brahmin roots. Upon reflection of his time in Benares Samar makes this claim: "whenever I recalled my time in Benares, I felt that it was a task I had shirked, that I had understood very little and misunderstood much during those months there. I was haunted by the sense of having left something incomplete." Samar was unable to find a balance between Eastern and Western thought. He found no middle ground for his relationships with Rajesh and Ms. West. Mishra is attempting to find a balance for East and West, by conveying contrasting fates for the foreign visitors that come to India in search of enlightenment, peace, love of self and others, as well as balance. Mishra’s character Samar was not able to find any of those ideals while spending time in Benares, India. The story itself is quite interesting and Mishra is able convey the beauty and imagery of India’s land and people with utter mastery. The western ideals and symbolism are obvious through the character Ms West, and Eastern ideals are represented well by Rajesh. Throughout The Romantics everybody seems to be looking for something and it seems that everybody ends up where they are destined; this idea represents Hindu fatalism. Regardless of the characters individual actions nobody in the entire story seems to end up any wiser of happier, but ultimately the characters end up where they belong.