LOVE, STARS, AND ALL THAT

An Indian graduate student looks for Mr. Right on two continents: a gentle satire of romance and academe from first- novelist Narayan. Before she leaves for Berkeley, convent-educated Gita Das's beloved Aunty Saroj insists that her favorite astro-numerologist predict the date Gita will meet her jori (true love). As the appointed date, March 1984, arrives, Gita is ready ``for the moment when everything would change and Heavenly Father Bhagavan would bless her with a mate.'' For the first two weeks every new man she meets is a potential husband, but they all turn out to be either gay or involved with someone else. A chance meeting with the renowned poet Timothy Stilling seems more promising, and Gita, believing she's now in love and intent on learning more about Stilling, befriends his colleague Professor Norvin Weinstein. Norvin, who was with the Peace Corps in India, is fascinated by all things Indian. By summer, Gita, discovering that Stilling has a lover, decides she's now in love with Norvin. And Norvin, a typically self-absorbed academic and enchanted with Gita's novelty, asks her to marry him, which Gita does. Fast forward a few years, and the now-divorced Gita is teaching in Vermont—and still looking. On a visit home to India, Aunty Saroj introduces her to a congenial young man. But then, back in the US, Gita realizes that an arranged marriage just won't work. Good things are in the air, however: Stilling claims she inspired his poetry, her dissertation is published, and true love is where she least expected it. ``Maybe,'' she tells a friend, ``jori isn't destined but you make it happen.'' Gita can seem a bit too naive, and the conceit overly prolonged, but the rich cultural detail and lively characterization here are fair compensation.