This story begins by introducing us to two couples-
Kavitha and Jasu
They live in the village Dahanu located in the state of Maharashtra in India. Jasu is a farmer who makes a living working in his fields, while Kavitha is a housewife.
Somer and Krishnan
They live in San Franciso, USA. Krishnan is an Indian who gets married to Somer, an American. Both of them are practising doctors in California.
In Kavitha's world, there is no place for a girl child. She loses her first child, a girl, to female infanticide.So, when she gives birth to a second girl child she is left with no other option but to give up her child to an orphanage in Mumbai.She does so without her husband's knowledge, to save her child from the clutches of death.
Somer is going through her own struggles. Having suffered two miscarriages, she is falling apart and is desperate to have a child of her own. The final blow comes when she finds out that she can never have a child due to an early menopause. After a lot of deliberation, Somer and Krishnan decide to adopt a baby from Mumbai- Krishnan's birth place. They adopt a beautiful baby girl who is the same child Kavitha was forced to give up.
The story then takes us through the various twists and turns in the lives of both these women, as the years go by. What starts off as a story about female infanticide, orphanages and adoption of a child, transitions quite smoothly into a tale exploring human relations and family ties.
The author Shilpi has a lovely writing style. I found her writing simple and crisp. It was very comfortable and easy to read. Kavitha's anguish and Somer's frustration are beautifully captured. All the characters in the book are well depicted, and their emotions are communicated well with the reader. The pace of her writing was also perfect for me. The story is neither hurried along nor is it too slow. This is a good read, without a doubt.
The issue of female infanticide is something we are all familiar with. But, reading about it in the newspapers and other reports repeatedly had somehow made me lose touch with the human aspect of the issue. It was all figures and statistics and ratios."Infanticide" became just a term with no feelings attached. But, looking at this issue from the point of view of these characters brought home to me the true horror of killing a baby. These are not just some numbers on a paper, they are actual people.I was struck by the heartlessness of it all. Though this story begins in 1984 in the book, it is sad to note that this issue along with many others are still quite pertinent in today's society.
Let me leave you all with this quote by Mahatma Gandhi, which gives us something to ponder upon:
See you all again with the next book. Happy reading guys..
You can find this book on amazon here:
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