A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

 A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth was my 9th of 2022, The novel centres on Mrs. Rupa Mehra's efforts to arrange the marriage of her younger daughter, Lata, to a "suitable boy" and follows four families during 18 months, soon after partition, around the time of first elections. 

We do have Mira Nair’s 6-Part BBC-Netflix Series From Vikram Seth’s 1500-Page Book, well made and engrossing. Medium dictates the art, and there are deviations. Before we get into that, first things first. Summary of A Suitable Boy. 

Set in Brahmpur, India (a fictional town), the four families are the Mehras, the Kapoors, the Chatterjis and the Khans Throughout the saga, Lata must decide if she is willing to marry the young Muslim man (Kabir Durrani) she loves, To keep Lata away from Kabir, Rupa hastily plans a trip to Calcutta, where she sets her daughter up with various Hindu boys whom she deems worthy of their caste.  Amit Chatterji, a well-known poet and writer, gets along well with the worldly and cultured Lata but is probably gay.  Lata is also set up with Haresh, a Hindu man who really likes her and whom she deems to be tolerable but slightly boring. He owns a thriving shoe company.In the background of Lata’s marital decision is the foreground for the rest of the world: politics. Various family members are also caught up in different political happenings. Within the Kapoor family, the main conflict is that the youngest son, Maan Kapoor, has fallen in love with an infamous prostitute named Saeeda Bai, end up almost killing Firoz. As the saga concludes, Lata Mehra finally makes her decision, she marries the “suitable boy”  Haresh.

Now comming to the Netflix series, relationship between Mann and Firoz, is established right in the beginning, Lata and Kabir's kissing scene, Prominence of Mrs. Mahesh Kapoor, the meeting of the three suitors, flower on head rose or jasmine, colour of saree - pink or purple.