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.