One Part Woman - Review

Kali and Ponna are one dream couple that every wife and husband dreams to have such intimacy between them. Nothing can keep them apart, not even when Kali teases his wife saying that he will go away with another woman. But, one problem is brewing between that happy couple and its eating them away every day.

The efforts to conceive a child have been in vain since more than 10 years.

Set in a sleepy town somewhere in Tamilnadu, this story gives you an insight about how Indian society treats a married couple if the woman cannot have a child in less than 2 years of marriage. 

With Ponna being called as a “barren woman” since she cannot give birth to a child, her friend circle has come down to almost naught. She secludes herself to home and finds warmth in her husband’s hugs at night. She cries to sleep when she cannot take all the insinuations made by people.

With characters like Uncle Nallupayyan and Muthu, brother-in-law of Kali, you are transformed into a world of conservative families where Untouchability still exists and higher castes are given all the privilege.

All their hopes of conceiving a child comes down to one so called chariot festival which takes place in the temple of Ardhanareeswara, the half-female god. On the fourteenth day of the festival, all the rules are made lenient and consensual union between any man and woman is sanctioned.

But, the ultimate test to the married couple is put forth when Kali is still deciding on this option but their family conspires to take the only chance to have a child without involving Kali in their decision.

Glad that I came across this banned book when Twitter readers are celebrating #BannedBooksWeek. 

Sea of Poppies - Review

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

We all have watched many British era’s movies and marveled at the rich history our India holds even then. Anyone of you ever imagined yourself living in such an epic era and felt the desire to experience those intense moments where India’s future is going to be decided?

I have.

And this is the novel I am going to suggest you if you ever have such thoughts again. An intricate work of characters, with all the details which are not too much and not too less. Amitav Ghosh proved himself to be an extraordinary writer through this remarkable novel.

Although a work of fiction, it gently reveals the history of India during 1830’s of British rule. How

Opium used to be an important trade for British Empire during 19th century. Amitav pays a great attention towards the language and slangs used among people which brings the characters alive and thriving in each and every page. With the culture, the smells, the white people who ruled Indians, and Opium being the vital part of this book, you’ll never stop turning pages of the first book in Ibis Trilogy.

Aboard the Ibis, you’re going to get transported into a world of colonialism with a group of sailors and escapees, coolies and convicts as it sails down the Hooghly on its way to Mareech or Mauritius Islands. A book with a web of beautifully interlocking stories and characters. With Ibis as its bearer, people aboard journeying across the Indian Ocean will come across the Black Water and an inevitable fate is awaiting them.

A definite page-turner. As you come to an end of Poppies, you’ll thank god that this is only the first installment of Ibis Trilogy which means there is more to come. Enjoy this grand novel of ordinary lives with extraordinary tales; of rich and panoramic narration of a story.