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January 10, 2023
Oindrila Mukherjee's Playlist for Her Novel "The Dream Builders"
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others.
Oindrila Mukherjee's novel The Dream Builders is a brilliantly constructed and arresting epic of a debut.
Publishers Weekly wrote of the book:
"A sweeping debut. . . . [Mukherjee] does a great job capturing the setting and exploring the fateful power dynamics. . . . a penetrating look at the fast-growing country’s shaky façade."
In her own words, here is Oindrila Mukherjee's Book Notes music playlist for her novel The Dream Builders:
My debut novel The Dream Builders is set in a fictional city in India called Hrishipur over the course of a single scorching summer. It tells the story of ten different characters from vastly different backgrounds as they all try to navigate a modern city that is becoming rapidly Americanized. Despite the shifting perspectives, the characters’ lives are intertwined, and the central narrative arc builds to a climax that will impact every one of them in profound ways.
Music played an important role in my creative process. I worked on this novel over several years, and often, when I felt stuck or unable to figure out how to keep going, I would stop and simply listen to music. Sometimes the lyrics of a particular song would inspire an idea. At other times, a melody would evoke a specific mood I wanted to capture.
At different times in my novel, the characters listen to different types of music. From Christian hymns to Britpop, from jazz to Bollywood songs, the range is quite wide. Because the characters belong to such different social and economic backgrounds, their choice of music too is varied. Some listen to songs in English, while others listen to songs in Indian languages. Some grew up watching MTV, while others listened to their parents hum old folk tunes. The wide variety of music featured in the novel may be a reminder of the country’s tremendous diversity.
Spice Girls – Who Do You Think You Are?
In the first chapter of my novel, soon after her arrival in Hrishipur following her mother’s death, Maneka attends a party where a Spice Girls song suddenly starts to play in the background. The song’s title is never specified, but I think this is the one that the hosts Salil and Ramona would choose, to ensure that all the guests remain in a good mood. The Spice Girls would have exploded on the international scene right before Maneka and Ramona went to high school in their hometown of Kolkata, and this song instantly transports Maneka back to those years. Even though Ramona and the other “beautiful girls” did not talk to her back in the day, looking back she feels a kinship with them as if together they all exhibited the same Girl Power as the band. Memories of a more carefree time allow Maneka to forget her present worries for a few hours. And, after a few years spent in a small, quiet American town, the uptempo disco beats make her feel more optimistic about the long summer stretching ahead of her.
Ramona is a bit of an enigma. When we first meet her, she is just as elegant and poised as Maneka remembers her from when they were sixteen. Her stylish and sophisticated appearance still seems to draw attention (and envy) wherever she goes. Maneka thinks she has the perfect life. On the surface—and her Facebook timeline—she has everything: beauty, wealth, status, friends, husband. But, as this song reminds us, appearances can be misleading. The gentle acoustic sound in the intro suddenly transforms into an angst-ridden pop anthem whose bouncy energy belies the underlying sense of hopelessness and despair. Sure, this is a song about pretending to be something you’re not, but it is also a commentary on our struggles with mental health. You never know what someone who looks perfectly fine might really be going through. Vocalist Hayley Williams used the term “self-preservation” when talking about the song. Who knows what really lies behind Ramona’s carefully curated persona, or for that matter anyone else’s.
Hemanta Mukhopadhyay – Purano Shei Diner Katha
One of the most beloved songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore (collectively known as Rabindra Sangeet), this is a Bengali rendition of “Auld Lang Syne”. While many Rabindra Sangeet exponents have performed it, this particular version was sung by Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, another Bengali icon, for Agnishwar, a 1975 film about an idealistic doctor. The Bengali rendition is as poignant as the original Scottish ballad. The local touches in the lyrics such as the speaker’s memories of playing the flute and singing songs underneath the Bakul tree give it a unique flavor. This song summons up all the nostalgia in the world. It isn’t possible, says its narrator, to forget the old days. The oldest character in my novel, Samiran, longs to go back to his hometown, Kolkata, and to his old ways of life, some of which might be lost forever. The yearning for the past is something nearly all the characters in the novel share, but none more so than Maneka’s father. I imagine him listening to this song and thinking about his deceased wife, his old friends, and everything else he has lost.
Martha and the Vandellas – Heat Wave
The title alone makes this song a suitable one for this playlist. After all, the events in the novel take place over the course of a summer in India when the temperatures reach record highs. Of course, the heat wave in the song is not quite as literal. But romantic and sexual relationships play an important role in The Dream Builders too. Despite the uncomfortably hot weather, people in Hrishipur manage to have a good time when they can. Some of them even fall in love. One of those people is Chaya, Samiran’s maid, who is dealing with scars from her own past. A little awestruck by Maneka’s presence and grieving for Maneka’s mother, Chaya feels she has nothing to look forward to until a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger. The covers of this song by Linda Ronstadt and Phil Collins are also fun, but this original Motown recording is the liveliest. With its mix of jazz and gospel influences, it captures the giddiness and excitement of falling in love. And it captures Chaya’s mood in particular, as she begins to think that happiness, which seemed elusive for so long, may be possible after all.
Bob Marley and the Wailers – Concrete Jungle
The opening song on their 1971 album Catch a Fire helped catapult Bob Marley and the Wailers, and reggae, to international stardom. The lyrics refer to inner city life in West Kingston, Jamaica, but really, this song could be about any city anywhere. The dark underbelly of a place that is celebrated for its glamorous side is rich with stories. Several characters in my novel live in tenement blocks, from where they can see the ongoing constructions of luxury condominiums. The seething resentment of those who serve the rich and are forced to live on the periphery without benefitting in any way from the economic progress of developing nations finds voice in this song. Marley’s brilliant rock guitar solo evokes the pain of those who suffer in silence. Until they don’t. Some have commented on this album as being a catalyst in transforming traditional reggae into a global product and have even rued the loss of pure traditional reggae in the process. Since The Dream Builders deals with the effects of globalizaton, this feels like a song of protest for many reasons.
Nanci Griffith – I Wish it Would Rain
What is it about rain that so many people love? In The Dream Builders it is one more thing the characters all seem to want but cannot have. Maneka longs for rain from the moment she lands in India, hoping the monsoon will soon arrive. She believes that the tropical rain, dark and lashing, might just wash away the emotions she feels upon arriving in India after a six-year interval. Other characters echo this desire, if only to get a little respite from the relentless summer heat. And beyond the city lights, out in the villages, farmers are praying for rain to rescue their crops. But as is often the case in northern India, the rains refuse to come, and Hrishipur remains dry and parched, the temperature rising to unbearable heights. The country-folk melody and the ache in Griffith’s voice capture all the poignancy of this simple wish, not only for rain, but for lost love. It makes you long for the fragrance of moist earth, the soft sounds of rain, and cool misty breeze. It’s such a pretty song, full of wistful longing, a mood that lingers through much of my novel.
Kishore Kumar – Ruk Jana Nahin Tu Kahin Haar Ke
This old Bollywood classic was composed for the 1974 Hindi movie Imtihan, which means exam. The song’s title asks the listener not to stop or quit when they have lost. The well-loved voice of Kishore Kumar has made this an everlasting favorite across generations, even though, in recent years, the remix version may have become more popular. In The Dream Builders, Rajesh, Salil and Ramona’s chauffeur, who has been driven to moonlight in his spare time to make some extra cash, is pleasantly surprised when his new passenger requests this original version on the radio. As he drives down the darkened streets of Hrishipur, he is reminded of his father singing the song back in their village when he was a child. Majrooh Sultanpuri’s lyrics encourage Rajesh not to give up despite the challenges he faces. Rajesh resolves to be stronger. This is a melodious and inspirational song about resilience, a quality that all the characters in the novel need as their lives spiral out of control.
Is there a song that more effectively sums up the central role of money in all our lives? From the jingling of coins at the beginning of the track to the guitar solo and other sound effects later in the recording, this could well be the anthem for pretty much everyone who has come to Hrishipur. But perhaps no one would embrace it more than Salil, the startup upstart! His entrepreneurial aspirations may have to sail through some rough waters, but no one understands the importance of having enough money—and then maybe a little more—better than he does. Like everyone else in the novel, Salil has more layers to him than may appear at first glance. But he does epitomize the aspirational quality of this city. Roger Waters has admitted to having transitioned at one time from socialism to capitalism. He said he wanted things, like a Bentley for example. So does Salil. But he also wants something else—respect. And in this new world, it helps if you make some serious cash.
Norah Jones – The Long Way Home
Ashok and Maneka listen to this song together one night in his small rooftop apartment. It is not one that Ashok would have chosen himself, and he’s a little disappointed at first when Maneka picks Feels Like Home rather than any of the old jazz records in his possession. But when this particular song starts to play, he finds himself reflecting on his own life. There is a reason why it’s his favorite song on the album. Like the narrator, he too has preferred to leave rather than stay. And after all the choices he has made, perhaps going back home is no longer an option. The song’s theme of wanderlust might resonate with any of the characters in The Dream Builders, who have all left home to come to Hrishipur. But for some of them, it is no longer clear where home is. I love the original version of this song in Tom Waits’ gravelly voice too, but Jones’ cover is sweeter and gentler, almost like a lullaby. It can put you to sleep, or it can keep you up. The perfect song for lost souls.
Sunayana Sarkar and Lebo M – Zindagi Dor Si
In the summer of 2019, I had just begun to revise the first complete draft of my novel at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts when I discovered this song which had just been released in India—a Hindi version of “Circle of Life” from the Bollywood adaptation of The Lion King. I listened to it because the vocalist went to my high school back in Kolkata, and I remembered her rich, low voice well. It transforms Elton John’s original melody into a more dramatic, resonant experience. High school memories play a big part in my novel, and I was reminded once again of my own high school years when listening to Sunayana’s voice. But I chose the song for the playlist mainly because of the lyrics. In this Hindi version, life is described as a thread—one that connects us to each other. Just like it connects the different characters in Hrishipur. No matter what their profession, level of education, gender, economic, or social status, all of them are tied together by invisible threads, their destinies forever intertwined.
Cássia Eller – Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
Everyone in the novel makes mistakes. We all do. Some of those mistakes may prove quite costly. People sometimes do terrible things. But ultimately, everyone is human, and everyone is merely trying to survive in a world that becomes more and more complicated every day. Although we never meet Maneka’s mother, who passed away a few months before this novel begins, her presence, her desires, and above all her wisdom, hover over the present, a reminder of both loss and love. She was a French teacher, and she made mistakes too. But if she were alive, I like to believe she would play this song for her daughter, and probably all the other characters in the novel. There are so many renditions of this song. While Edith Piaf’s may be more dramatic, the Brazilian singer’s husky voice makes it sound intense and sultry. I can imagine this music floating through Hrishipur, both haunting and comforting for its residents as they confront their demons and ghosts.
Franz Waxman – Rebecca Suite
United in their grief and unable to find the words to connect with one another, Maneka and Samiran decide to watch all the Alfred Hitchcock movies together to try and revive the bond they once shared. The one piece of music from a Hitchcock film that is actually mentioned in the novel is “Que Sera Sera,” from The Man Who Knew Too Much, which reminds both father and daughter of Maneka’s mother. But there are so many stunning scores to choose from that they would have listened to throughout the summer. I picked my favorite from Rebecca, the first film Hitchcock directed in America. In the movie, a faithful adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel, property plays a central role just as it does in The Dream Builders. Waxman’s Suite includes several different pieces, each evoking a different mood. In order to represent the dead Rebecca herself, Waxman used a “ghost orchestra” with the polyphonic Novachord to create an eerie effect. The music changes from melancholy to joyful and ominous to soothing according to the storyline. It reminds me of how nothing is constant, not even our emotions, and how life can be both light and dark, beautiful and heartbreaking.
Oindrila Mukherjee grew up in India and now lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she teaches creative writing at Grand Valley State University. The Dream Builders (Tin House) is her debut novel.
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