Publisher's Blurb

She looked at the clock. It was six in the morning. She looked at the wall. The calendar. Seventeenth January. The whole of the night of the other sixteenth of January she had the pain tearing through her, from consciousness to unconsciousness nd back again, the smell of ether, harsh lights, the doctors moving beyond the hazy screen of torpid pan, all night long, all night long, then the dawn of the seventeenth January and Brati was born. 

It was the morning of seventeenth January again. But there lay back in the past, two years ago, yet another seventeenth of January, yet another dawn, when Sujata slept beside the same man in the same manner. And the telephone ran. On the bedside table. Suddenly. 

My Review

A mother tries to find the truth of her son's death who has been reduced to a number '1084'. But the truth finds her on a new path to self-realization.

 
I’ve read many books translated from the Indian language now. Somehow I thought I did not connect with this book.

The plot is unique, I’m yet to read a story that portrays the youth of India and their woes so candidly. The book's theme is a subject tender to the nation, especially the citizens of Calcutta and its surrounding regions. Sujata’s reaction to the whole incident of her son is very realistic. Her thoughts about how if she had done things differently on a fateful day, her son would’ve been alive now, will touch the reader’s hearts.

And yet I felt as though somehow the mystery of Brati’s death and the reason behind his death was dragged unnecessarily. I also found that the translated version of the book is written in a way that there is no clear distinction between dialogues of characters. So with more than one character in the scene, the dialogue became very tough to follow. Sometimes I got confused if the character was thinking to themselves or talking to someone. Also switching between different times in the story also confused me further.
More elaborate characterization of other members in Brati’s family would have helped the story further I believe. The development felt shallow and felt like Sujata was the only moral person in the entire book. Also, I could not digest the sudden transformation of Sujata, after meeting Nandini, Brati’s girlfriend.

Final Verdict

Overall I think it was an okay read for me. I’d recommend it to readers looking for a translated read with a unique plot/story.

- Top Quotes from Mother of 1084 - 

Time was stronger than grief. Grief is the bank, Time the flowing river, heaping earth upon earth on grief.

Time is a ruthless killer, as cruel as destiny.

“Time was the arch fugitive, always on the run.”