Book Summary – Mahashweta by Sudha Murty

Mahashweta

                             by

                   Sudha Murty

         

          Penguin Books India, 2007, 154 pp, Rs. 175/-

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          This novel deals with the stigma of leukoderma, a skin disease which makes the patient’s skin colour turn pale white.

          The novel has its links with the character of Mahashweta in Banabhatta’s classic work, ‘Kadambari’.  While Banabhatta made it a happy ending, life doesn’t always give one a ‘lived happily ever after’ type of ending. While the Mahashweta of Kadambari wears white to get her beloved, Pundarika, back to life, the Mahashweta of this novel turns white.  The link is just in the white colour.

Book Summary – Gently Falls the Bakula by Sudha Murty

                   Gently Falls the Bakula

                                by

                             Sudha Murty

Penguin Books India, 2008, 169 pp, Rs. 175/-

          The book is about a marriage gone sour.  Of aspirations suppressed for long.  Of non-acknowledgement of silent support.

Book Summary – Dollar Bahu by Sudha Murty

  Dollar Bahu

                              by

                   Sudha Murty

Penguin Books India, 2007, 142 pp, Rs. 175/-

          My reading of Sudha Murty was intermittent.  It all changed when a friend ‘flipkart’ed a copy of her latest book, ‘The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk’.  I ordered all her available books and read them, but will summarize only three novels.  This is the first one.

Of Leaders and Losers- 2. Diagnosed with cancer – So what? I can fight it-Part III (concluded)

(contd from the previous post)

Anita had a passion for teaching.  She completed her Ph.D. and taught at a University.  She was a popular teacher and was well-respected in the academic community. 

In recognition of her performance, the State Government even honoured her with the ‘Best Teacher’ Award on Teacher’s Day.

She had a consistent pain in her right knee.  She consulted a normal doctor.  She felt better and went about with her work.  After a few days, it recurred.  She consulted an orthopaedician this time.  He administered some pain killers; it got worse.  After a series of investigations, he declared that she suffered from arthritis and prescribed medicines accordingly.

Of Leaders and Losers - 2. Diagnosed with cancer – So what? I can fight it- Part II

      (contd from the previous post)

       Sundari felt a lump on her chest.  She thought it was just some inconvenience.  Her younger son’s final year degree examination were fast approaching.  She thought she’d wait for Ravi’s examinations to be over, before she paid attention to her problem.

                                        

Of Leaders and Losers- 2. Diagnosed with cancer – So what? I can fight it- Part I

          After a while, I’m back to the Leaders and Losers series.

          I am highlighting three fighters – all of them women, all diagnosed with the dreaded disease of cancer.  These individuals are known to me, but their names are withheld for purpose of privacy.  When a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, let’s listen to their stories of fight, which have basically been adhered to, with the writer’s liberty taken here and there.

* * * * * * * * * *

Omens and Superstitions and their ‘Ominous’ Implications

               Padma was plucking jasmines in her garden when she heard the starting sounds of her neighbour’s scooter.  She was first amazed to notice that the neighbouring uncle never went out without ‘ensuring’ good omen – one (and not both) of his unmarried daughters coming from the opposite direction.  It struck her that both of them, ‘Akka’s as she called them, were away at their grand mother’s place to spend the summer holidays.  How will uncle go out, she wondered.  She also recollected that Sakti, her mother, had warned not to be around when the neighbours moved out, to avoid unnecessary unpleasantness (‘Omens are just beliefs.  People use them to blame someone if something goes wrong’, was what her mother said).  Along with the buzzing sound of the breeze, she also happened to hear the reason why the uncle never went out that day.

* * * * * * * * *

Book summary – Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Book summary – Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie

                                                                     By Mitch Albom

                    2012 Reprint, 192 pp - £7.99

                   Published by Sphere, UK.

          The book’s sub-title, ‘An old man, a young man and life’s greatest lesson’, itself is an indication of the philosophical harvest the book has on offer.  And the reader is not disappointed.

          The book is a tribute to a teacher, who shared more than his academic expertise with his students.  There is a plethora of one-line aphorisms which are to be remembered forever.  If you have already read this book, you may feel you are reading it again.  I have summarised what appealed to me the most. 

Book Summary- The Bachelor of Arts by R.K. Narayan

The Bachelor of Arts

                                                                             By R.K. Narayan

                   31^st Reprint 2012

Indian Thought Publications, Chennai

                   Introduction by Graham Greene

                                      166 pp, Rs. 100/-

          I have now taken it upon myself to read (or re-read) the entire collection of R.K. Narayan.  My first view of the book was when I was a child (it was my grandfather’s copy of the 1^st Indian edition, if my memory is still good).  I wanted to be a Bachelor of Arts before reading it.  Somehow, this book missed my eyes after I completed my B.A. (not that I have a great memory of the ones I read before), so I decided to start with this one while revisiting R.K.

Book Summary- One and a half wife by Meghna Pant

One and a half wife

By

Meghna Pant, Westland Ltd. 2012, 296 pp, Rs. 250/-

          Meghna Pant’s debut novel is interesting and deals with social and marital issues that the middle class face, but shy away from.  It traces the story of Amara Malhotra, who arrives in US and tries to live her mother’s version of American dream (posh and polished lifestyle yet Indian in values).  Her efforts to impress others by living someone else’s life always meet with failure, and her ‘Indianness’ makes her the bride of an ivy-educated millionaire, being his mother’s choice.  Then follows a life of Jekyll & Hyde – trying to be her Indian self from within and seeming to lead the husband-friendly lifestyle from without.  She forces herself to compromise on her likes and dislikes and tries to adjust to her husband.  She ends up with a double whammy – failing to rise up to his expectations as well as being herself.  All her efforts to ‘save’ the marriage prove futile, because her husband never wanted her in first place.  The truth of the failed marriage is something she has to come to terms with and at the same time, face the adversity of her parents and the ostracism of the Indian American community.

Book Summary- A River Sutra by Gita Mehta

A River Sutra

                                      by Gita Mehta

Viking – Penguin Books India, 1993 282 pp,  Rs. 299/-

          This is an interesting book made up of stories either experienced or told on the banks of the River Narmada.  There is a narrator (Sutra-dhar), an ex-civil servant, who takes up the job of the Manager of the Narmada Rest House, a Mughal vintage building deep inside the forest on the banks of the Narmada, as if only to symbolise his entering the Vanaprastha stage of life.  One finds vivid descriptions of the building and its neighbourhood but the thread (Sutra) that runs the book is the River Goddess herself.

The Exorcism of the Ghost- Part II (concluded)

(continued from the previous post)

          Padma was in her mid twenties.  Their house bore a pall of gloom because of the death of a relative – not that their family had not known death, because the deceased individual forced it upon himself!  This was the first ever suicide heard of in the village the family hailed from!  Moreover, the relative was a prodigal son who wrought infamy upon his parents – he would purchase expensive items from the market on credit by (mis)using his father’s name and the poor father would have to foot the bills at a later date.  There was a point when the parents grew tired of his spendthrift habits – they warned him strongly.  The suicide was not the result of the repentance, rather of determination to put elderly parents into further trouble.  When he was ‘fished’ out of the river, a suicide note was recovered from his possession, which said that his parents drove him into taking this extreme step and that he would take revenge on his parents and those who supported them by haunting them.  In addition to the sorrow, Padma was worried about this ‘haunting’.  She expressed her fears to Sakti, who assuaged them by saying, ‘Don’t you worry, Padma!  If each and every individual who committed suicide would decide to haunt some one or the other, the roads would be full after dark and there would be no room for traffic either’.  Padma was relieved.

* * * * * * * * *

The Exorcism of the Ghost-Part I

          Padma was introduced to the ghost when she was, may be, three years of age – that’s what she remembers.  She was not sure of her accuracy on this count.  That was when her relative mentioned the word ‘Deyyam barukulu’ (Ghost scratches) for chapped skin in winter.

          Padma had got curious.  She wanted to know what the ‘Deyyam’ (Ghost) was and how it managed to scratch her.  When she asked her cousin as to how those scratches appeared, the latter bit her tongue and promptly told her, ‘Actually they are called ‘Gaali Geetalu’ (lines caused by the air).  They occur during the winter.  Some people also call them ghost-scratches’.  Those were the days when cosmetics had not invaded our dressing tables in the way they have now.  Awareness of moisturising the skin was quite low – it either took the form of application of coconut oil (which, some people worried, would cause thick body hair) or, for those who could afford, petroleum jelly, on the body.  Needless to say, with no fragrance to enjoy, and an oily skin to handle, children naturally made a lot of fuss to let their mothers lubricate their body, and therefore, usually ended up with chapped and scraped skin during winters.  With low levels of awareness about the skin, people attributed the scratches on their skin to the invisible air or to the equally invisible ghost.

Of Leaders and Losers- 1. The Strong Comeback

            We normally associate leaders only with the power to control the course of others’ lives.  The aim of the anecdotes related below is to disprove that notion.  People in their own small ways can make the difference not only to their lives but also to others.  Such leaders are highlighted in this series. Some others get the opportunity of helping others’ lot improve but they seek to dump it. Many more think negatively and, deservingly, get reflected in the ‘losers’ part of this series. Some stories may also bring out the contrast between leaders and losers!

            In a small town of India, there lived an IIT aspirant called Srinu.  His extended family looked up to him because none of them had ever come close to making it to the esteemed institution.