Title: Vismriti: The art of forgetting
Author: Naina Kaur
Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
First Publication: 2022
Language: English
Book Summary: Vismriti: The art of forgetting by Naina Kaur
An emotionally charged tale of a dead woman Noor who waits for Moksha, a daughter Ira who has been forced to face her truths when she wants to forget them and an estranged lover Sameer whose memories have betrayed him. As conflicts arise in Ira’s consciousness, she is awoken to all the truths hidden under her convenient lies.
Why doesn’t Noor strive harder to keep her love when she still had a chance? Why does Ira abandon her mother so? Decisions that seem right at the moment of occurrence may not feel so right in the future…so how do their decisions play out in the characters’ lives?
As the characters swim in a sea created by their own emotions, only the strongest can breathe – the rest just float. Ira loses her dead mother’s body, Sameer loses his memories, and Noor loses her will.
Forgetfulness is an art that the characters have mastered, however what is a man without his memories but a constellation in the sky?
Book Review: Vismriti: The art of forgetting by Naina Kaur
The mother-daughter connection and a series of secrets that turn out to have stormy ramifications are at the centre of the family drama written by Naina Kaur. This ferocious and breathtaking tale follows the lives of two strong women: the compassionate Noor and her daughter Ira. In a story that takes place in two separate periods, we find out about Noor’s past, her connection with Sameer, and the effect that it has had on her life from that point forward.
Vismriti by Naina Kaur starts with the news of Noor’s death, and her corpse is now being held at the death lodge. During the time that she was stuck in this place known as “Antim Gantavya Bhavan”, nobody came to visit her. Ira, Noor’s daughter, receives a phone call from the death lodge, which she first takes to be a joke but subsequently discovers to be genuine. Ira had a long-standing feud with her mother, and she had no desire to see her again. Now, Ira lives happily with her daughter Myra, and the two of them have a strong connection with one another.
Following the phone call, Ira and her daughter Myra were kidnapped by two guys working at a death lodge and taken away the very next morning. They are transported to the city that Ira had previously abandoned and sworn she would never go back to again. After discovering her mother’s death, she realises that she’ll never see her again. On the other hand, the body of Noor disappears because an old man steals it with the intention of performing the funeral rituals.
As the story progresses, she gathers more information about her mother, including the fact that her mother’s last desire was to see her. She also learns of a letter that Noor wrote for her, and she receives the letter from the two guys who brought her to “Antim Gantavya”. This story covers a sequence of events that occurred in Ira’s life, and she comes to the understanding that her own selfishness is what caused her to become estranged from her mother. This book is both heartbreaking and profoundly fulfilling because it combines emotional honesty with a genuine knowledge of people and the dynamics of their relationships.
Vismriti by Naina Kaur is an emotional read that deals with the pain of loss. The characters are true to life and well rounded. The writing is sympathetic and real, examining the nature of family interactions as well as grief, loss, love, and the bond between a mother and daughter. It’s through an unexpected meeting between a dead mother and her daughter in this very moving book that the reader learns more about how the secrets and complexities of their past have impacted their present and future.
Naina Kaur is a writer who explores topics such as resilience, love, and hope through her compelling writing. Her words embrace the toughest of feelings, regrets, and emotions while building a relatable story to cling to. She has done a wonderful job of portraying the intense feelings and emotions of both sides so that the reader cannot help but have sympathy for the mother and daughter. Author Naina writes as a seer and an artist, the one who knows the intricacies of relationships and can paint the past and present with both broad and detailed strokes until the two become pleasingly reconciled before it is too late. Or is it already?
