Skip to main content

She: Ekla Cholo Re


Book Review

info@hoffen.in
Identity quest is one of the classical themes in literature.  However, gender identity quest is relatively new.  It is also one of the most painful quests, perhaps, because not belonging to either of the most natural genders can be an excruciating experience psychologically.  The agony is aggravated by the attitudes of the ignorant and insensitive general society towards transgender people. 

The authors of the book under review approach the theme in the simplest manner possible: by presenting a trans-woman and her problems.  Kusum was born a male who was very uncomfortable with that gender.  It’s only the body that is masculine.  The spirit is feminine.  The father is unable to accept that reality.  Hence the offspring is abandoned.  But (s)he is happy to get the support of a friend who eventually becomes a surgeon and will perform the sex-changing surgery.  The love between Kusum and her doctor-friend was not merely friendship.  The emotions had something sexual about them.  The doctor is able to sustain his passion for his friend who is now a woman though not capable of reproduction.  The doctor’s father is a thoroughly practical man who tells his son how he would be ruining his life and career if he marries such a woman. 

The relationship is broken.  Kusum carries the scar in her heart.  Eventually another doctor, a psychologist whom she admires, will extend his friendship to her.  How does she respond to this new friendship?

The book can’t be called a novel.  It is a novella at best.  The whole book is just 58 pages out of which only 40 pages are devoted to the story itself.  If you are an experienced reader you can read it in about half an hour.  The narrative is extremely simple and straightforward.  The intention of the authors seems to be to highlight the problem of transgender people and evoke empathy in the reader. 

But the claim on the cover that it is “a story meant to motivate all and sundry irrespective of their circumstances” is not misplaced.  The “ekla cholo re” motif, borrowed from Rabindranath Tagore, recurs reminding the reader about the basic loneliness that all of us have to go through irrespective of our gender identity or any other identity.  The going gets tough at times whoever we may be.  When the going is really tough and you need the support of people, people are quite sure to abandon you.  Then we must acquire the courage to ekla cholo, go alone.


I’m grateful to Santosh Avvannavar, one of the authors, for inviting me to review the book. 

Comments

  1. I've reviewed it as well...a decent endeavour towards a controversial issue, trans-gender...:-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The issue deserves better understanding and the authors have made an effort in that direction.

      Delete
  2. It's good initiative for making awareness in society and evoking empathy towards the transgenders with a motivational tone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The narrative looks very interesting and it has been covered in a novella span that makes it all the more tempting. Shall pick this one, i think...

    ReplyDelete
  4. As long as the book is written nicely, I don't mind giving it a read even though it is a novella. The book deals with an issue which is relevant socially and such books usually gather few readers. That is a pity, isn't. Good effort from your side for spreading the word.
    I am happy to be here after so long. When I disappeared from blogosphere, you were tending to a fracture, I remember. I hope you are healthy and healed now. And I see that you have been blogging consistently. Kudos to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm fine, thanks for remembering my fracture :) And glad you are back.

      Delete
  5. The narrative, as given by your review, appears interesting. Actually, I find the title very compelling. When I started reading the post, I thought 'She' is about a woman and her struggles, about how 'she' fights it out alone. But turned out it is different. By the way, have you read Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't read Blue Boy. In fact, transgender-related themes and works don't interest me at all. I read this book merely because it was sent to me with a request for review.

      Perhaps, this book under review is no comparison with Blue Boy.

      Delete
    2. I cannot compare the book without having read it. But I would suggest you read Blue Boy. It is different. It would be nice to have your views on it.

      Delete
  6. the entire theme looks so compelling. I will suggest Rituparno Ghosh Strred Chitrangada, the crowning wish. The song "Ekla cholo re" is my favorite and has pulled me through some times. Jodi tor daak shune keu na chole tahole ekla cholo re..."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Datta Ghosh, "Jodi..." the book has quoted a few lines of that song including this one. Since the English translation is given, I could understand it :) though I was familiar with the phrase "Ekla cholo re".

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prelude to AtoZ

  From Garden of 5 Senses, Delhi [file pic] Hindsight gives an unearthly charm and order to the past. There can be pain too. A lot of things could have been different, much better, if only we possessed the wisdom of our old age back in those days. As a writer put it, Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear and a lot of those guys must have thought, “I wish I had known this some time ago.” Life is a series of errors with intermittent achievements. The only usefulness of the errors may be the lessons they teach us. Probably, that is their purpose too. We are created to err so that we learn, I dare to put it that way. I turn 64 in a month’s time. It’s not inappropriate to look back at some of the people whom life brought into my life so that I would learn certain lessons. No, I don’t mean to say that life has any such purpose or design or anything. Life is absurd. People come into your life as haphazardly as vehicles ply on your road or birds poop on your head. Some of these people change the chemist

Why I won’t vote

From Deshabhimani , Malayalam weekly Exactly a month from today is the Parliamentary election in my state of Kerala. This time, I’m not going to vote. Bernard Shaw defined democracy , with his characteristic cynicism, as “ a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve .” We elect our government in a democracy. And the government invariably sucks our blood – whichever the party is. The BJP and the Congress are like Tweedledum and Tweedledee though the former makes all sorts of other claims day in and day out. BJP = Congress + the holy cow. The holy cow has turned out to be quite a vampire and that makes a difference, no doubt. In our Prime Minister’s algebra, it is: (a+b) 2 which should be equal to a 2 and b 2 . There is an extra 2ab which is the holy cow. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm , the animals revolt against the human master and set up their own nationalist republic. Soon politics develops in the republic and some pigs become leaders. The porcine

How Arvind Kejriwal can save himself

Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have a clear vision. Eliminate all opposition. Decimate them or absorb them. My previous post [link below] showed a few people decimated by them. Today let’s look at the others: those who are saved by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP]. 1. Himanta Biswa Sarma  This guy was in Congress and faced serious charges related to the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. He also faced corruption charges related to drinking water supply in Guwahati. His house was raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI]. Then he switched over to BJP and all his crimes just vanished. It’s as simple as taking a dip in the Ganga and all your sins are forgiven. Today he is the chief minister of Assam. Nothing is heard of all the charges that were levelled against him. 2. Amarinder Singh  This former Captain in the Indian Army was a Congressman until Modi’s Enforcement Directorate [ED] started raiding him, his son and his son-in-law. He put an end to all those raid

The Good Old World

Book Review Title: Dukhi Dadiba and irony of fate Author: Dadi Edulji Taraporewala Translators: Aban Mukherji and Tulsi Vatsal Publisher: Ratna Books, Delhi, 2023 Pages: 314 If you want to return to the good old days of the late 19 th century, this is an ideal novel for you. This was published originally in Gujarati in 1913. It appeared as a serial before that from 1898 onwards in a periodical. The conflict between good and evil is the dominant motif though there is romance, betrayal, disappointment, regret, and pretty much of traditional morality. Reading this novel is quite like watching an old Bollywood movie, 1960s style. Ardeshir Bahadurshah, a wealthy Parsi aristocrat in Surat, dies having obligated his son Jehangir to find out his long-lost brother Rustom. Rustom was Bahadurshah’s son in his first marriage. The mother died when the boy was too small and the nurse who looked after the child vanished with it one day. Ratanmai, Bahadurshah’s present wife, takes her

Kejriwal’s Arrest in Modi’s Kurukshetra

For some mysterious reason, Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest reminded me of Haren Pandya. Maybe, because Pandya’s 21 st death anniversary is approaching (26 March). Have you forgotten Haren Pandya? He was the Home Minister of Gujarat before Narendra Modi assumed dictatorial powers in that state. Modi chose to teach humility to Pandya by making him the Minister of State for revenue. Pandya chose not to learn humility from Modi and resigned from that post in Aug 2002. Remember Gujarat of 2002? You should. A fire engulfed a train on 27 Feb 2002 killing 58 Hindu pilgrims who were returning from Ayodhya where they had gone to discover their god, not very unlike Christopher Columbus undertaking a voyage to discover India and messing it all up. What caused the fire in the train? Lord Ram knows probably. The upshot was that there was a riot in Gujarat by Hindus against Muslims. Haren Pandya is one of the BJP leaders who gave statements in many places indicting Modi for the riots. He asser