Last 4 days have been a marathon reading session for me. The fact that it is Kannada I am reading and that none of these books are more than 200 pages long ensured that I finished 4 books in as many days.
But that is not to say I had fun. I didn't like most of the books I read. Off the four, 3 were "social novels" by their own admission. But they turned out to be literary versions of the daily soaps I avoid watching!
"aparichitaru" or strangers by C N Mukta was the most annoying of the lot. In the introduction the author says that "at one point it was believed that education and economic independence was the way out for women. But today, despite that women are being trampled on" Very interesting right? But the following 180 pages were a sob story to the hilt. The protagonist (can we call her that if all she does is be a doormat, willingly at that, through out?) Manasa is this very dedicated doctor with big dreams of serving people. She falls for this guy Anant who goes against his parents' will to get married to her. But his parents never give in and alienate him completely from their lives. This gets him resentful against Manasa and starts harassing her.
That is not it, the fellow takes to alcohol, gambling and women in full public view. All this while blaming his wife that if she spent more time with her he wouldn't look else where. A point of view Manasa's 2 obnoxious children also share. The two children demand things left, right and centre from the mother but will not be nice to her. Through it all Manasa is patience personified. There are moments when she shows some spunk and decides to walk out of this "family" but things like daughter's marriage and her post natal care stop her from doing so. She decides to stay back and sort things for the husband even after she finds out that he was married to someone else all along and has a daughter of marraigable age. Her excuse this time? The poor girl needs to be settled, she's not at fault! But after her step daughter is married off thankfully Manasa takes off to serve at some oldage home. The story ends with that.
I am not terribly optimistic when it comes to gender equality in the near future. But this level of pessimism put me into depression. I spoke to other women who have read this book and their take on this was stunning! Here are a few.
"Women should not be / cannot be too ambitious. Their place at home is more important and she cannot jeopardise it"
"Men will look else where if they don't get everything they need or want from home"
"This is the proof that women can never be equal to men"
"She decided to leave the husband and children after all her duties were finished. She didn't run half way. Young women these days can learn something from this."
What can I say to this? This book was written in 1994. Much time has passed since, have the books changed with times? or are they sticking to the safe territory? Also doesn't this kind of writing alienate the other gender completely? Novels and soaps are only for women eh? I am looking for more recent books by the same author or others to see if and how things have changed.
The other reviews to follow are "dharitri" by Dr Arathi Venkatesh, "hrudaya milana" by Usha Navaratnaram and "hantaki I love you" by Ravi Belagere.
But that is not to say I had fun. I didn't like most of the books I read. Off the four, 3 were "social novels" by their own admission. But they turned out to be literary versions of the daily soaps I avoid watching!
"aparichitaru" or strangers by C N Mukta was the most annoying of the lot. In the introduction the author says that "at one point it was believed that education and economic independence was the way out for women. But today, despite that women are being trampled on" Very interesting right? But the following 180 pages were a sob story to the hilt. The protagonist (can we call her that if all she does is be a doormat, willingly at that, through out?) Manasa is this very dedicated doctor with big dreams of serving people. She falls for this guy Anant who goes against his parents' will to get married to her. But his parents never give in and alienate him completely from their lives. This gets him resentful against Manasa and starts harassing her.
That is not it, the fellow takes to alcohol, gambling and women in full public view. All this while blaming his wife that if she spent more time with her he wouldn't look else where. A point of view Manasa's 2 obnoxious children also share. The two children demand things left, right and centre from the mother but will not be nice to her. Through it all Manasa is patience personified. There are moments when she shows some spunk and decides to walk out of this "family" but things like daughter's marriage and her post natal care stop her from doing so. She decides to stay back and sort things for the husband even after she finds out that he was married to someone else all along and has a daughter of marraigable age. Her excuse this time? The poor girl needs to be settled, she's not at fault! But after her step daughter is married off thankfully Manasa takes off to serve at some oldage home. The story ends with that.
I am not terribly optimistic when it comes to gender equality in the near future. But this level of pessimism put me into depression. I spoke to other women who have read this book and their take on this was stunning! Here are a few.
"Women should not be / cannot be too ambitious. Their place at home is more important and she cannot jeopardise it"
"Men will look else where if they don't get everything they need or want from home"
"This is the proof that women can never be equal to men"
"She decided to leave the husband and children after all her duties were finished. She didn't run half way. Young women these days can learn something from this."
What can I say to this? This book was written in 1994. Much time has passed since, have the books changed with times? or are they sticking to the safe territory? Also doesn't this kind of writing alienate the other gender completely? Novels and soaps are only for women eh? I am looking for more recent books by the same author or others to see if and how things have changed.
The other reviews to follow are "dharitri" by Dr Arathi Venkatesh, "hrudaya milana" by Usha Navaratnaram and "hantaki I love you" by Ravi Belagere.
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