Mistress of Spices
` From amchur to zafron, they bow to my command' says the Mistress.
In this intriguing and
elusive tale of a Spice Store in the heart of Oakland, California, the author weaves a web of fantasy that leads us into a fairytale world. A world of wonder and weirdness that seems to belong to another age, another era, that has the shades of both the past and the present.
The sorceress Tilotamma, whom the writer invests with an uncanny sense of perception, has only to look into people's eyes to senses their frustrations. Gently probing the often shy and reluctant customers, who willingly visit the store, Tilo encourages them to speak their minds.
And soon enough, they surprise themselves by unburdening their innermost aches and pain to a complete stranger and she surprises them by producing the perfect remedy for each one of them, in the form of spices.
Impossible?
No, not in the magic world of Chitra Divakaruni who has the most powerful of wands, her mellifluous language. And her intuiton that aids her choose the right ingredient for the right person, be it cinnamon or makardwaj, zeera or turmeric, red chile or sesame. Thus is a word web of magic woven,
The tale swings back to the pre dawn days when Tilo is initiated into the rites of sorcery by the First Mistress, the Ancient One. In the unknown Island in the depth of the Ocean,
wisdom is imparted to the several maidens who had chosen witchcraft as a way of life, and commanded to live alone.Forever. Not for them the intoixcation of another's ardour entwining them without reserve but the
lonely path of knowledge, on which they have to tread for the sake of others' happiness.
Tilo pays a heavy price for the wisdom thus bestowed upon her. She has to forswear the ravishing beauty that is hers and is shorn of all elegance and radiance . . . to become an old witch. With gnarled fingers and scanty hair, wrinkled skin and a shaking voice, she potters about the dark store like any ordinary aging woman.
And yet, the irrepressible spirit lurking inside her takes Tilo down the forbidden path – to fall in love with another human.
The lonely American who inadvertently steps into the Spice store weaves the dangerous web of infatuation around Tilo, captivating her and stripping her of all pretensions.She desparately tries to avoid him. Acts indifferent and rude, burying her intense desire under callous words. But Raven, as she names him in her heart, breaks down the barriers feebly put up by Tilo and claims her as his own.