Hidden Life by Madhuri Vijay - The New Yorker, August 24 issue

2 days ago by Legendsofanus to c/books

I have just started getting into reading magazines and specifically using Libby to read bits of articles here and there. I like the current political stuff and some media coverage but on the whole it hasn't been a very interesting experience until I came across this short story

I didn't even realize The New Yorker published short stories, at first I thought it was just an excerpt. It's about an Indian girl who has to go live with her aunt for a little while while her mom and dad work through the grief of having gone through a miscarriage.

The mystery and intrigue builds up in little blocks, each paragraph showing us a little moment in Nidhi's (our protagonist) life: her life with her parents, the going away to live with her aunt, meeting her aunt's mentally handicapped daughter...

I thought it was really well-written and compelling and by the end of it it built such a well-realized cast of characters that each had shades of darkness and human qualities in them that I wanted to explore their stories more, to spend a little more time with their thoughts and personal griefs.

It's a simple coming-of-age story that read like a thriller that was brilliantly paced and I would love it if other people learned about it as there wasn't a lot of discourse online

OmegaMouse 2 points 2 days ago

Thanks for sharing! I've just read through it and I agree that the writing and pacing is really great. It touches on some interesting ideas about taboo, exploitation and I suppose... hidden lives.

What did you make of the ending? Spoilers:

spoiler

It was interesting that Sudhir revealed his past to Nidhi because he felt that she was wise and would understand him. But then, if I'm understanding the ending correctly, he was subsequently annoyed by her correcting him and decided to spite her by getting her to move bedroom. Leading to the visit from Padmini in the night (who apparently tries to get into her husband's old bedroom each night to hump the occupant?). Sudhir seems very shallow; perhaps particularly upset by the fact he's being corrected by a woman. It was quite a bizarre, unexpected ending!

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Legendsofanus 3 points 2 days ago

spoiler

It was a strange ending all right. The text made it read like it was Sudhir who comes into the room at night but having it be Padmini is just way more nasty and feels more shocking for some reason.

There's even a horror/unnerving element to it when we realize that Padmini is the reason why Sudhir locked his room ever night and called it a "force of habit". Padmini sounds sexually repressed as hell, she doesn't even see who's in bed and starts humping them, I think her childlike behaviour and her marriage meant that she was probably raped every night without understanding what was happening to her and thought to herself that this is just one of her duties.

It's not a duty she likes so she gets sullen and distanced when Sudhir who (I think correctly) Nidhi thinks reminds her of her husband.

Sudhir probably likes girls who are smart but not too smart, he is clearly annoyed by Nidhi and there's also the fact that he talks to her about sleeping in his room after bedtime. He doesn't mention in during the day or at dinner in front of other people and they just makes him look sus.

There's the thing with her aunt being so jolly all the time that it feels like there's something wrong going on there as well.

Anyway, yeah I don't know exactly what happened but I love that the ending leaves you so many things to figure out.

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OmegaMouse 1 point 2 days ago

spoiler

that she was probably raped every night without understanding what was happening to her and thought to herself that this is just one of her duties. It’s not a duty she likes so she gets sullen and distanced when Sudhir who (I think correctly) Nidhi thinks reminds her of her husband.

Ahh that reading of it makes a lot of sense, and certainly explains Padmini's change in attitude.

Yes the aunt's reaction to Sudhir being around is odd. Is it just that he reminds her of her son, or (and this felt more likely to me) she's attracted to him? Like you say, I enjoyed the uncertainty of the ending.

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fireweed 1 point 2 days ago

Have you posted this to the short stories community? https://literature.cafe/c/shortstories

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Legendsofanus 2 points 2 days ago

I wasn't aware of that community but I'm gonna look into it now

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