The Guilt is Alive
by
Hemalatha Gnanasekar
Review
by Maria Teresa De Donato
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Should we or shouldn’t we interfere with our beloved ones’
lives? Should we or shouldn’t we get involved in their businesses out of love, our
sense of duty and responsibility, and our desire to protect them and lighten
their ways while assuming that we know better what is good and what is best for
them?
With an open heart and the most honest attitude Hemalatha
Gnanasekar, author of the memoir The
Guilt is Alive, plunges us into the dynamics of family life and all
that comes with them.
The most authentic and most profound love for all members of her
family leads the author to get highly involved in their lives with the desire
and firm conviction that by following her advice, they will get a great job,
become rich and famous, and help the family financially, assuring all members
and especially her parents after retirement, to have a dignified and
comfortable life rather than fall into poverty.
Her brother Sampath Kumar, or Babu, as the family calls him,
decides to do just that and abides by her loving advice. Enchanted by the dream
of getting rich and helping the family, Babu leaves India and moves to Jamaica
after receiving what appears to be an attractive job proposal to work in a
company as an AC Engineer. This position – he believes – will allow him to make
much money, which he will send to his family in India. In so doing, he will achieve his father’s and
his own goals.
Fate, God, or whoever is in charge of our Destiny has other
plans, though.
Things won’t work as they should have. Among arguments at work
due to Babu’s short temper, misunderstandings, and businesses not going well, Babu
will fall into poverty and be unable to help himself, let alone his family, in
India.
Although Babu’s story will end up in a drama, the message of this
literary work is, nonetheless, a positive one. In fact, despite the emotional
pain and sorrow that his sudden death will bring upon her entire family, the
author will learn an important lesson through somebody else’s experience.
Consequently, she will reach a turning point and start acting constructively
despite her loss. She will change her perspective and consequent behavior and
eventually will start enjoying life again.
She eventually will come to an understanding that “The human
spirit is resilient and no one can destroy it except us” (H. Gnanasekar,
2015, 2022, p. 248) and that no matter if other people show empathy towards our
sufferance or prove they have become “emotionally stone deaf, bogged down by
problems of their own,” we are “the master(s) of [our] fate.
[We are] the captain(s) of our soul.” (p. 249)
Hence, although there might be things we don’t understand about
why certain situations occur in our lives, and the pain and guilt might still
be there, Life is worth living, and eventually, we will come to terms with
whatever manifests in ours.
The Guilt is Alive is a beautiful book that allows not only a complete immersion in
the Indian and Jamaican cultures but also gives us plenty of opportunities to
meditate on and challenge our belief system, behavior, and ‘good intentions,’
and last but not least, the very meaning of Life.
