The Silent Raga now stands at number three on the bestsellers list in New York and mind you, it’s Ameen Merchant’s debut novel.

But after all this, if you are  expecting an author with a stiff upper lip, you are in for
disappointment.

“I just feel wonderful. It means my book has the right contents and is connecting with readers across boundaries,” said Ameen.

In The Silent Raga, the voices Ameen hears are of women who are the protagonists. The book is about Tamil-speaking Brahmins living in Madras in the 1980s and   90s.

Janaki and Mallika Venkatakrishnan, the novel’s sister protagonists, must find good husbands while the community scrutinises their every move. In one way, they could be creations of Jane Austen, but with the particular complications of their religion, caste, and class.

“The book mirrors the restrictions imposed on marriage and caste in society during the 90’s. Shahrukh and Gauri Khan have heavily influenced my work, because it has quite a struggle for the two of them to convince their parents about the marriage. They struggled,” explained Ameen.

When I tell Vancouver-based Ameen that he is now being compared to Khaled Hossieni, he quips with a short reply, “It is a great honour.”

And that prompts him to reveal the way he had researched for his book, “I conducted a lot of research on north-Indian Brahmims. I would write my drafts and email it to my friend’s wife in India. And they would read the same and revert with their suggestions.
That’s the way I got my homework done.”