Mahashweta - [Book review]

Book Details
Title : Mahashwetha
Author : Sudha Murthy
Publishers: Penguin books
Price: Rs.175

This is my third book of Sudha Murthy. Other reviews can be found here - Dollar Bahu and Wise and otherwise

Purchase Link: Amazon India

Story
 Anupama is a middle class beautiful looking girl with excellence in both academics and extra curricular activities like acting in plays. A young, handsome and rich doctor Anand loves her on first sight and persuades his mother 'Radhakka' to arrange for marriage, even though her mother gives preference to a rich family bride with status. Anand and Anupama live happily for sometime before he goes to England to pursue higher studies and Anupama is supposed to join him after a few months as Radhakka convinces him that their daughter in law should be in their home for auspicious puja on Deewali. One unfortunate day, Anupama finds a white patch on her foot and finds that she has leukoderma. Her life completely changes after this. Even though that skin disease is not contagious or dangerous, it slowly spreads to other areas even while taking medication. Society around her doesn't understand this and everyone avoids her. Her in laws, her step mother, people in her village humiliate her and at last her husband also stops sending letters to her and cut the relationship. Anupama couldn't bear this as there is no fault of hers, but still she lost her family and everything. She comes out of depression and suicidal tendency and decides to own her life. She leaves to Mumbai, earns a job with the help of her friend Sunitha. The remaining story is about how she gets her dream job of lecturer in a college and starts directing Sanskrit plays and getting awards for them. Will Anand realize his mistake? Did he ever love Anupama or only her beauty? Will Anupama re-marry anyone? You need to read the book to know answers to all these questions.
Leukoderma starts with a white patch and spreads to other areas making Anupama a white woman, a real Mahaswetha. That's how title is very apt and story makes you think about the society we live in and people's attitudes.

What i liked
Story shows how Anupama becomes matured with circumstances and realizes her dreams without losing patience or confidence. I liked the way she thinks and analyzes the outcomes to avoid suicidal tendency even though society ostracizes her.

One excerpt from book

"Of the thousands of flowers that blossom on a tree only a few will bear fruit. And out of those few fruits, insects and squirrels will eat some. The tree does not keep anything for itself. Does that mean that the life of the tree is wasted?"

What i didn't like
There is nothing as such which i didn't like. Just that the story is plain, without any twists. It is much realistic and practical. So, it is not a book which you cannot leave until you finish. 

My Rating
3/5

Until next time,

Image courtesy: Indiaclub.com

Dollar Bahu by Sudha Murthy - [Book review]

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Book Details:

Name: Dollar Bahu
Author: Sudha Murthy
Price: Rs. 150
Publishers: Penguin India
My rating: 4/5

This is my second book of Sudha Murthy, first one being 'Wise and otherwise', which is a collection of realistic short stories. Read the review here.

Purchase Link:

Amazon India

Amazon 

Writing style of Sudha Murthy's:

Sudha Murthy's writing style is simple and very easy to follow. Her stories may not have big twists or interesting turning points, but still they keep you glued to the book till the end. While we read, we will be transferred to the place mentioned in the book and feel like we are present in that scene as a witness and able to understand the feelings of characters in the story.

Storyline:

Story is about an ideal working woman 'Vinuta' who marries a clerk Girish and starts living in a middle class family in Bangalore. She works as a school teacher and is very satisfied with her life. She becomes an ideal daughter in law  and takes up family responsibilities easily. 

But her mother in law Gouramma and siter in law Surabhi are very greedy and always give importance to the elder son of the family Chandru and his wife Jamuna who is from a rich family. They always sing praises of Jamuna and Chandru who stay in US with green card and send money to the family whenever required. They never understand the importance of Vinuta and always humuliate her by comparing with Jamuna. 

Gauramma dreams of visiting US and stays for an year with Jamuna to take care of her grand child. Her perspective on life and money changes after observing many people's lives in US. She realizes the importance of love over dollars, hates herself for loving the dollar bahu Jamuna and ignoring her good daughter in law Vinuta.

Some excerpts from book:

About US: Though these lines are applicable only many years ago. Now, standards of living improved here too.

this is a funny country. Like a colorful web spun by a spider, an insect walks in and gets trapped. At first we are drawn by the best technology and handsome renumeration. But once we stay here for sometime, it is difficult to go back. We get used to the easy living conditions and the professional work atmosphere. The conditions in our country are far below what we expect. Sometimes I feel there are many good reasons to leave India, and it is much more difficult to go back and settle there after so many years.

When Gouramma returns from US:

She realized that the grass was always greener on the other side. America was no longer a fantasy land for her. There was pain, misery and happiness there, as in any other country. It was no longer the land of mighty dollar, which made magic.

 So, do read the book if possible and share your opinion.


Until next time,

Image courtesy: libraryindia.in

Wise and otherwise - [Book review]

                   I love reading books a lot. Real life stories or experiences of people interest me. Recently i borrowed a book from library named 'Wise and Otherwise' written by 'Sudha Murthy'. Yeah.. Sudha Murthy is wife of Infosys founder Mr. Narayan Murthy. Heard a lot about her social work earlier and once even read a forwarded mail about her speech. It was inspiring. She is known for her Philanthropic work through Infosys foundation. She was the first woman engineer to be selected in Tata motors. She initiated a move to provide library and computer facilities to all government schools in Karnataka.

                 The book 'Wise and Otherwise' contains many short stories which are of maximum 6 pages each. Actually, they are not stories, but real life experiences of Sudha Murthy when she visited different places and met different people in her life. Mostly, all stories are around emphasizing the importance of moral values and about people's behavior in different circumstances. For novel readers, it may not sound like a very interesting book, but for people who like reading non-fiction, close to reality stories, this will be the best option. I feel, title is also apt and funny. 

So, if you get time, don't miss reading it! 

You can buy this book from here:

Until next time..