Rani DharkarShe describes it as "something of a psychological disorder in women" and has used it as the title of her debut novel -The Virgin Syndrome. As Rani Dharkar states, the virgin syndrome is a prevalent one "more so in India, where the idea of virginity till marriage is a fixation". Her novel, published recently by Penguin, explores this phenomenon and discovers that in reality it is no longer a fixation.This exciting new social formulation, very assiduously put forward by Dharkar, could go a long way in putting Indian feminists in the right frame of mind as they trudge towards the next millennium. For all its bold thematic analysis, the book - shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for the Eurasia region - is devoid of any overt feminist outbursts or, mercifully, the all-too-familiar embarrassed prudishness. Like her persona, Dharkar's writing too is understated. The novel's nameless protagonist - a schoolteacher who squats on the pavement and contemplates life in a swift stream-of-consciousness-like montage - argues the thesis of virginity. The tone of sexuality in the novel is set with such musings and sequences of eccentricity.The Virgin Syndrome could at best be a veiled autobiography. A few real-life parallels are evident, though. Dharkar herself is born of urbane parents, single and a teacher of English literature at Vadodara's Maharaja Sayaji Rao University."We are a very close-knit family and as children reading, writing and independent thinking were encouraged. There were books all around," says Dharkar. However, she asserts, "The book is not about me, but there are influences, memories and events that one draws from. That is inevitable.".preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}The book was conceived six years ago and Dharkar draws from her "observations of the women around myself as well as my students. Many women came to me and said they could identify with the novel". She is currently busy stringing together a collection of short stories, "some rediscovered after years and others still in the mind". Says Dharkar: "Fiction is my genre and somehow I'm more comfortable with the short-story format." Her forte is understanding the psyche of individuals and Dharkar, buoyed perhaps by the favourable response her debut novel has fetched, is also planning to write a play which has "something to do with psychology and what makes and shapes people in different ways".Published By: AtMigration Published On: Apr 13, 1998--- ENDS ---
