Status Single: The Truth About Being Single Woman in India by Sreemoyee Piu Kundu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sreemoyee puts forward the frustrations & despair that so many single women in India go through for no fault of theirs. It’s a voice to the emotions of not just the women whose stories we read in the book, but the multitude of women who sail in the same boat. Being shunned by society and agonized by constant questions about their single status and sex lives, how they long for privacy and to be treated normally.
The author covers their day to day struggles starting from renting their own place, having a normal social life, being treated fairly in the workplace to the emotional struggles of battling loneliness, insecurity of losing loved ones, being hit upon by lusty men and carrying the burden of a haunting past. The stories of the women in the book have been handled with great sensitivity. These are inspirational women and their stories show how they are managing to be lead successful lives despite all the blockers society puts in their way.
Sreemoyee has captured the struggles and emotions of singles of different types – spinster, divorced, windowed, disabled, from different parts of the society – all sharing a common pain. The book is well written and the chapters have been given interesting names. There are some fine humourous pieces like the letter to ‘Bultu’ which refers to the snobbish, choosy and controlling mother of the prospective groom.
A lot of women- single or not would relate to the book. All of us have faced these issues in our life at some point or the other, like having an inferiority complex due to our looks, being shunned by society for our life choices, for being discriminated against for being single, separated or childless, compromising our happiness and self-respect for the man who turns from dream to nightmare. In fact, one of the blog posts I wrote was about the inferiority complex I faced due to my dark complexion.
https://medium.com/@anupachatterji/th...
Kudos to Sreemoyee for in India who deserve the same respect as anybody else.


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Tedha hai par Mera hai

As I entered the cafeteria on a rainy Monday morning, with a cup of steaming coffee and a plate of crispy poha (a typical Maharashtrian breakfast), I noticed the breakfast table already warming up the cool weather. At one end of the table sat Mr. X (let’s call him that lest he should file a defamation lawsuit against me!), my colleague who has been abroad(or onsite in IT jargon) for quite some time now and visits his homeland once in a while. X seemed to me like some ‘Baba’ giving 'gyan' to his disciples because he was doing most of the talking while the rest of them just looked up to him in awe.

The topic for the day was the same as it is on every 1st day of his India trips – praises of foreign land and criticism of poor India. Not that this was restricted to the 1st day of his visit, but the following days would mellow him down a bit and also, most of the audience would be clever enough to find ways to escape the repeat telecast. Anyways – this was the 1st day and we let him blabber to show some respect to him and majorly to be in his good books till he distributes goodies that he has brought from foreign land.

X went on and on about the wonders of the western world. How he loves the cleanliness and orderliness there, how people are disciplined and everybody goes by the rule book and anybody breaking the law is brought to book. He was all praises for the development and standard of life that he enjoyed there. And then he started comparing ‘poor India’ with his new land of wonders- how everything in India is so behind the times – unkempt roads, poor transportation, unbearable weather, dirt, grime, pollution, poor civic sense - the list was endless. We all listened quietly – some in awe, some in agreement, others suppressing their disagreement. X kept on and on - “In the US, we make sure we don’t spit on the roads, we follow driving rules, we have the most sophisticated gadgets to make life easy ..blah,blah and here Indians don’t have any civic sense, the country is going to the dogs. Everywhere you see there is corruption, pollution. And then the comparisons started again - poor Indian roads vs smooth American ones, poor health care facilities vs. advanced American Medicare and he continued with comparisons about education system, culture, people, sophistication, work culture and even McD vs. Haldiram.

Listening to the way he was saying ‘we’ do this whereas ‘you’ do that – it made me wonder if he was denying the fact that he was an Indian – I guess the long time he spent abroad had made him feel he was an American. Although I didn’t disagree to many things he said, I felt insulted and more so since it was coming from him – an Indian however much he may want to deny it. India has a horde of problems that is getting crazier by the day, making life difficult for a big part of the population. Having said that, every country has its problems and simply criticizing or turning one’s back isn’t going to get us any closer to resolving a single issue. It is our own motherland despite its imperfections.

The audience managed to cut short his ‘India Bashing’ and all of us went to work. We enjoyed the American Chocolates X had brought in bulk – chocolates really make us melt and so we decided to ignore his despiseful comments in the morning. Well, as fate would have it I wasn’t done with X yet. While returning home I noticed a traffic policeman had stopped a car at the traffic signal and was engrossed in discussion with the driver. After quite a bit of discussion, I saw the owner of the car step out and hand him a few crisp notes after which the policeman let him go. Such incidents are not that rare on Indian roads and I’m sure we all must have come across something like this one or another time. In fact, I’m sure many of us would have no hesitation in greasing the palms of people in power in small ways just to avoid getting into any kind of hassle. I have witnessed many such incidents and haven’t really approved of it, but what specifically struck me this time was that the guy in question here looked very familiar. As fate would have it, as I was waiting on the next signal, the same car stopped next to me and as I peeped out, I saw X on the driver seat. I couldn’t help but wonder what had made him stoop so low as the Indians he was cursing so much. And I realized that he was still one of us – to find the convenient way out. He had learnt the ways of the western world – the accent, the sophistication, the attitude- which made him feel and behave like them, but what the western world couldn’t take away from him was the ‘jugad’ attitude which gave him away. It reminded me of the wolf who took on the pretense of the sheep, but was caught.

I'm ashamed to confess that I think like X while stuck in heavy traffic or seeing the garbage at the side of the street. I wonder if I’m the sheep or the wolf – maybe a thought for all Indians to introspect

Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shalimar the clown is a story of love, betrayal and complex relationships. A major part of the story is set in the backdrop of beautiful Kashmir. It starts at a time when Kashmir's beauty was at its peak and gradually paints a horrific picture of fall of the 'paradise on earth' with the onset of militancy. As the carefree life of Shalimar and Boonyi takes a twist from an innocent love story to a strong hate saga, so turns Kashmir from nature's haven to a battlefield. The book touches the sensitive issue of Kashmir that had left numerous people dead and homeless and cut off the state from the rest of the country. The fall of Kashmiri is heart wrenching as seen from the author's eye and one can feel the pain of Kashmiris with the fall of Pachigan.

All the characters in the book are very strong and well carved out, so much so as the sections in the book are named after them . They are not good or bad, but very human with shades of both. There are stages in the story where one hates them, but others where one can't help but sympathize with them . It is a story of ambition of 1 person destroying the lives of many. It is the story of people losing their sanity in repentance. It is the story of a girl coming to terms with her biological origin.

The book has Rushdie's characteristic flamboyant narrative with the most complex vocabulary thrown around. This makes it a rich, literary delight, albeit making it difficult to touch the chords with some readers. It does reiterate why Rushdie is one of the great authors of the time.

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