First Impressions
By Suchitra Behal
Diddi, Ira Pande, Penguin, Rs. 250.
FAME, they say, comes at a price. Is that price motherhood? A "normal" lifestyle or a sense of alienation from things ordinary? As she delves into the strange life of her mother, the famous Hindi writer Shivani, Ira Pande looks at the dynamics of her relationship with her mother. "Because we called our mother Diddi, elder sister, our relationship with her was somewhat ambivalent," writes Pande. In this beautifully recounted book, she discovers different facets of her mother's personality. In attempting to write about her mother, Pande exorcises herself of past ghosts that may have haunted her.
While Pande declares at the outset that she does not intend to write an autobiography, this book effortlessly seams through two or three genres without distracting the reader. So, it is through Shivani's own writings that we get a glimpse of her childhood and her later years when she. lived in Lucknow with her trusted retinue of servants. According to Pande, Shivani, or Diddi, was far too proud to admit to either of her children that she needed an emotional anchor. Instead she rebuilt her life through the characters she loved to observe and write about. Shivani wrote about the ordinary people that surrounded her and lived her life to the fullest through the characters in her books. In writing about Diddi, Pande recounts some intimate moments in their lives in an attempt to understand and appreciate fully the woman who was her mother.
The Master Mariner, Nina Sood, Stellar, Rs. 225.
TRAGEDY often forces people to draw on hidden strengths. Some just about manage to get by, others battle and survive. This is a survivor's story. A warm story of a love that is deep and emotional. It is also the story of a wife who nurses her husband through trying and painful years when he is diagnosed with cancer. Her hero is a man named Krishen Sood. As she recounts their life and times, she paints a portrait of a marriage but also of a man who she clearly adores. But this is also the story of her personal challenge and triumph in gearing up to the painful treatments that her husband has to undergo and her role as a caregiver. Nina Sood weaves an intelligent account of her life as a mariner's wife, sharing with the readers the rich diversity of her experiences.
I am Madhabi, Suchitra Bhattacharya, Katha, Rs. 200.
MOST of us are familiar with Katha's prize-winning short stories. But gems like this collection bring to notice the importance of the great work that this gutsy little publishing house has been doing over the years. In this collection, Katha once again drives home the point that there is some great literature waiting to be read. "The Middle Class" is a discerning story of a middle class couple, whose school going daughter convinces her parents to let her educate the house help — a young girl her age. What ensues is practically a miracle but one that is not acceptable to the middle class couple. Upset over the turn of events, they slyly have her removed from their home, leaving both the maid and the young daughter distraught. In "Postmortem", a husband stumbles upon his wife's diary where she records in detail the revulsion and sadness that has surrounded her relationship with him. "I am Madhabi" is the story of a young woman used by a sage . Through this short story the author questions the role woman are forced to adhere to and how society treats them. A thought provoking compilation, one that questions the very ethos of the lives that ordinary women lead.
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