Amma: Jayalalithaa's Journey from Movie Star to Political Queen

Author: Vaasanthi

Genre: NonFiction, Politics, Biography 

Rating: 3/5

Verdict: No surprises, offers nothing new for someone already familiar with Tamilnadu politics. A very quick read.  

I've been wanting to read this one for a while now. It is a very swift read and a quick run through of Amma's life from her childhood to her political life. For someone already quite familiar with Indian politics, lived in India and followed the news, this book offers nothing new.  It just felt like a collage of a lot of newspaper articles/wiki pages put together. The author has deliberately and carefully stayed away from writing in detail about the controversial topics that surrounded Jayalalithaa's life and only touched upon those events in each chapter which is quite alright. I enjoyed reading about Amma's childhood and her relationship with her mother. This part of her life was something I hadn't read or known about before so it was quite interesting.  Many of the incidents described in each chapter although known to everyone brought back memories of my childhood when I watched those with keen attention with my family in the news channels and newspapers. 

To me, personally this book gives an insight into how sexist Indian politics was/is and how one woman fought through all the turbulence in an entirely male dominated political world and emerged victorious. I would've liked to see more pictures from Jayalalithaa's childhood and adolescence and I also felt that the author did not do a good job of documenting in detail about all the welfare schemes created by Jayalalithaa which had heaped a lot of praises. The crisp language makes it a good read despite its over simplification of the content presented.

Book Review: Madhorubhagan (One part woman)

Author: Perumal Murugan
Genre: Fiction, Cultural
Rating: 4/5
Verdict: A powerful book which captures the taunts aimed at the childless by the society.

About the author:

There was a huge controversy surrounding this book last year, and the author Perumal Murugan decided to quit writing after the controversy broke. His Facebook page said:

"Perumal Murugan, the writer is dead. As he is no God, he is not going to resurrect himself. He has no faith in rebirth. As an ordinary teacher, he will live as P Murugan. Leave him alone."

While I am not sure why there was a huge deal made about it 4 years after the book was published, I read this book to show my support to the community of authors and freedom of speech. The controversy and the book is about a ritual that was practiced in Tiruchengode, Namakkal district a century ago. As per the ritual, a woman could go with any man on the night of the festival and a child born out of this relation is treated as a child or a gift from God. In the novel a couple is childless for 12 years and the wife and the entire family (with the exception of her husband) wants her to take part in the ritual. It is the sexual permissiveness that was protested against.

Now about the book - 

Kali and Ponna live in the Tiruchengodu area enjoy and a happy and fulfilling marriage but are childless. They yearn for a child and are subjected to open attacks, heated arguments, cruel taunts and the society pinpointing their barrenness at every possible juncture. They are deeply hurt by this and recede to their own shell after a while.  One night when both their mothers construe a plan together, Ponna is curious to know what it might be and it is at this moment the ritual and the details about it are revealed. The entire family is in support of Ponna going to the 15th day of the chariot festival, while Kali is opposed to it. Ponna after going through 12 years of insults and insinuations is ready to oblige if Kali agrees to it, but Kali is shocked when he hears her readiness. What happens after that and the emotions and turmoil they undergo on the 15th day of the festival forms the rest of the story.

Perumal Murugan has pained quite a picture with his description of the lives of people in a certain time period. I read the book in Tamil and really enjoyed the local dialect throughout the book. 

I was expecting more about the Arthanareeshwarar temple and the chariot festival itself when the pages moved to the 15th day but he focused more on Ponna and Kali's feelings which may have been the right thing to do to think more about it. While some may think of Ponna's acceptance and the final few chapters of the book as her new found liberation and happiness, I cannot come to terms with her decision, even though it was to procreate. While Kali vehemently disagrees to his family's plans of his second marriage because he thinks Ponna would be wounded by it and Ponna has expressed the same multiple times, I didn't see any such feelings from Ponna about how her decision would make Kali feel. I could not accept the fact that her childlessness has overwhelmed her to such an extent. I could perfectly understand Kali's pain and anger when he comes home on the night of the the festival and find the entire family has gone to the festival. The last few scenes in the book were bizarre and when you close the book you are left with so many questions and wanting to know more about these traditions/rituals! A very poignant read and we need more bold authors like Perumal Murugan. I wish he gets back to writing soon.

Book Review: Family Life

Author: Akhil Sharma
Genre: Cultural, India, Immigration
Rating: 1.5/5
Verdict: A depressing, dark story with a seemingly rushed ending. Don't bother reading this.

I have heard about Akhil Sharma in a few of the Asian authors list and his books have always been on my to-read pile. This was a pretty short book and there was no reason for me not to pick it up from the library. Even though I finished this book in a few hours straight, it was a pretty depressing story for the most part and leading nowhere.

The book is about an Indian family of four (father, mother and two sons) that immigrated to the US in the 70's in search of a better life and how tragedy strikes and their lives change in a matter of 3 minutes when their elder son becomes brain dead after an unfortunate pool accident. The story is narrated by the younger son and we learn about the father's alcohol problems and how he feels that his mother hates him and spends all her time with the elder son caring for him. Until this point, Akhil completely lured me into the story and I just kept turning pages to find out where he led the readers to next. But, it was at this point in the story that it started becoming very repetitive, long-winded and boring. I continued to read in the hopes of the story going somewhere, but it never changed gears. It lacked depth and never left an impact on me. I am glad it was a short book and I just finished it. I am sure I would have abandoned if it was a tad longer. I do not even want to get started about the ending which seemed completely abrupt, rushed and meaningless. I do not expect a happy-ending or a redemption for every book I read, but at the very least there should be a message. I cannot help but compare this with the other books with the same theme - Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala and Take this man by Brando Skyhorse. Both narrated brilliantly and left a huge impact and the message at the end was very clear.

A very ordinary lifeless book with repetitive prose. I just don't get the hype about this book. I don't think I will pick up any more of Akhil Sharma's books after being burnt by this one.  I would definitely warn you to stay away from reading this. 

Book Review: Oleander Girl

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Genre: Literary Fiction, Cultural Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Verdict: A thrilling novel about finding one's true identity with a bit of suspense and romance. Read it!

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has become one of my favorite authors of Indian origin in the recent times. Ever since I read her Palace of Illusions, I have started following her and her books in detail. I really loved Palace of Illusions and Sister of my heart, both for Chitra's style of writing and the way she handles the plot.

Oleander girl is the story a young Bengali woman, Korobi (Bengali for the oleander flowers) who lives with her maternal grandparents after being orphaned at birth. She is the apple of the Roys (her grandparents) eye and lives a fairy tale life in Kolkata, soon to be engaged to the love of her life, Rajat. The story begins with Korobi waking up from a dream involving her mother on the day she is getting engaged to Rajat. Korobi is disturbed by the dream and feels strongly that there is a message behind it. In a series of incidents that follow, Korobi's grandfather dies and she learns about a shocking family secret about her parents from her grandmother that throws her completely on to a different path and she sets off to find her true identity. What follows is a gripping tale about race, identity, tradition, heritage and class.

The first half of the story is set in Kolkata, revolving around Bimal Roy, the stern grandfather of Korobi, her grandmother Sarojini and Rajat, her fiance, while the latter half is in USA, where Korobi travels to learn more about the family secret. Like in all of the other novels by Chitra, the female characters in the book are very strong and admirable - Korobi meek and subdued at first but she stands out when she sets her heart on traveling out of the country to find out her own identity, Sarojini - her grandmother who has pretty much always stood by her husband's words and secrets, even though she knew it would bring a lot of pain when they come to light, Jayashree Bose - Rajat's mother who runs the Bose's business and is a wonderful mother. Kudos to Chitra for showing the depth of each character, not just the lead ones. I could almost feel the anger on Korobi's grandfather for his silence and stealth actions all though the years and the helplessness of Rajat when he sees Korobi off at the airport and waits for her calls all night long for days together. Korobi and Rajat's love was also very well portrayed and the strength and maturity of it was pretty evident all throughout the story.

The first few chapters seemed to move really slowly, but once Korobi lands in the US, the plot becomes absolutely gripping. Warning - It becomes a real page-turner at this point and you will not be able to put the book down until you are done. I have always felt Chitra's books were easy to read and follow and although the story here was narrated by multiple characters, it all integrated seamlessly and that gives the plot an additional interesting touch. There are subtle messages sprinkled here and there all through out the story which I loved reading and one of my favorite quotes was: "Never choose something because its easier". One more thing I was really interested to find out when I started reading the book was, why the name "Oleander girl". I got my answer towards the end: "Because the oleander was beautiful - but also tough. It knew how to protect itself from predators".

Near the end of the book, K

Near the end of the book, K

Near the end of the book, K

Near the end of the book, Korobi learns the meaning behind her name: “Because the oleander was beautiful—but also tough. It knew how to protect itself from predators. Anu wanted that toughness for you because she didn’t have enough of it in herself.” - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Oleander-Girl/Chitra-Banerjee-Divakaruni/9781451695656/reading_group_guide#sthash.WxqaYKht.dpuf

Near the end of the book, Korobi learns the meaning behind her name: “Because the oleander was beautiful—but also tough. It knew how to protect itself from predators. Anu wanted that toughness for you because she didn’t have enough of it in herself.” - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Oleander-Girl/Chitra-Banerjee-Divakaruni/9781451695656/reading_group_guide#sthash.WxqaYKht.dpuf

Near the end of the book, Korobi learns the meaning behind her name: “Because the oleander was beautiful—but also tough. It knew how to protect itself from predators. Anu wanted that toughness for you because she didn’t have enough of it in herself.” - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Oleander-Girl/Chitra-Banerjee-Divakaruni/9781451695656/reading_group_guide#sthash.WxqaYKht.dpuf

Near the end of the book, Korobi learns the meaning behind her name: “Because the oleander was beautiful—but also tough. It knew how to protect itself from predators. Anu wanted that toughness for you because she didn’t have enough of it in herself.” - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Oleander-Girl/Chitra-Banerjee-Divakaruni/9781451695656/reading_group_guide#sthash.WxqaYKht.dpuf

In a lot of places, it did feel like a typical Bollywood movie as the story progressed and a bit cinematic and melodramatic, but I must say I really enjoyed reading it and it took me all of 5 hours to wrap up the book when I got to the part when Korobi leaves to the US, I was turning pages as fast I could. This is my second favorite of the books I've read of Chitra's, Palace of Illusions still takes the cake. Oleander girl is a close second.