I have read total three books in March. And all three books have been written by women writers! What a pleasant coincident given that the International Women's Day is also in March. In this post, I'm going to review briefly all these three books.
1. "The Seven Sisters: Kitchen Tales from the North East" by Purabi Shridhar, Sanghita Singh
This book is basically a collection of authentic recipes from the Seven Sister states of North-East India. But what makes the book different from other cookbooks is that this book also tells the stories associated with the recipes along with describing the distinguishing topography, culture, cuisine of each state. The recipes are very simple and requires basic ingredients. Most are made from locally available herbs, vegetation, fishes and animals and requires little to no spice. Some recipes don't even require the addition of salt. They are a reminder of the simple tribal way of life that existed in North-East India. While there's no doubt about the health benefits of these recipes, I don't think they will be quite palatable to my Bengali taste-buds. However, it's a pleasure to know about the cuisine of the little known North-East India.
2. "Song of the Cuckoo Bird" by Amulya Malladi
It's a book spanning four decades in post-independence India, beginning in 1961 and ending in 2000. The novel depicts the lives of women inmates at an ashram situated at Telia Meda, Andhra Pradesh. The plot is quite interesting with many strong women characters. The characters seemed to me as trapped in their own lives, own circumstances. They tried hard to escape their destinies, but not always succeeded. These women differed from the women of mainstream society as Telia Meda provided shelters to the discards of society.
The characters will stay with the readers for a long time even after finishing the story. They were thrown into a life which was not their own choice, the only exception being Kokila, the protagonist of the story. Charvi, the guru of the ashram, who was anointed guru by her father but who herself was unsure of her divinity, was never able to have a traditional family. Chetana, a prostitute's daughter, tried hard to get a normal life outside Telia Meda, but failed miserably. Kokila, who stayed in the ashram and refused to leave it for her husband's home, searched for love in men much older than her
Overall, a pleasant read. But the writing, I felt, could have been better.
Ever since the book was published last year, I knew that I had to read this book. Neena Gupta is a controversial actor. While we all know that she gave birth to her daughter out of wedlock, I wanted to read about her struggles as a single mother. She has written just a few lines about her controversial affair with Vivian Richards in the book. So while the 'juicy' tid-bits are missing, reading about her journey as a single mother was a pleasure. I have always admired her for her courage, but reading the book made me realize that the real Neena Gupta is sometimes as vulnerable as any ordinary woman. She has written, "Raising a baby without the father, however, is really really hard. It's possibly one of the hardest things any woman has to do."
She has not made any attempt to hide her relationships in the book. But what I loved best was her passion and her unwavering determination in whatever she did, be it pursuing her acting career or raising her child single-handedly. Coming from a humble, middle-class family, she has succeeded in making a name for herself as an actor. There are lot of tips and advices for the newbie actors in the book. And some quotes just stayed with me long after I finished the book. I'd love to share few such quotes here.
"If you are such a person, who genuinely wants to be liked and make everyone happy, please know that the only person you can make yourself happy is yourself. If you want to please everyone in the room, you're doomed."
"I want to ask my daughter countless times: What do you want from life? A career? Kids? Both? But I feel, in the end, regardless of what she chooses, the only thing that matters is that she has high self-esteem. That she loves herself and knows what she's worth. That she respects herself enough to not chase after other people's acceptance."
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