Sunday, September 27, 2015

RUDALI

Book Review: RUDALI


This is a short-story written by Mahasweta Devi. It centres around the life of Sanichari, a tribal woman, who had to endure much hardships in life. She faced many deaths in her life, each of a near and dear one, yet she never had the luxury to shed tears for any of them, as each time she had to wage a struggle for mere survival. Finally, for the sake of living, she became Rudali, a professional mourner. She had to sell her pent up tears to earn a livelihood.
It’s a heart-wrenching story of a woman and brings tears to the readers eyes. It offers great insights into the tribal life, who are exploited by the upper castes generation after generation. The book was adopted into a movie. Though I haven’t seen the movie. Yet the book moved me deeply.