Women as Victims or Survivors

Book

Title: The Blue Scarf and other stories

Author: Anu Singh Choudhary

Translator: Kamayani Sharma

Publisher: HarperCollins India, 2023

Pages: 188

There is no doubt that the Indian social system is overtly patriarchal and hence a lot of women endure restrictions of all sorts. There are exceptions like the matrilineal tribes of the Northeast. The 12 short stories in this volume by Anu Singh Choudhary focus on some women from the patriarchal societies of India, particularly North India. Originally written in Hindi, the stories have been translated quite effortlessly by Kamayani Sharma though the book does show a few signs of poor proofreading.

The very first story, First Look, shows us the rising aspirations of a few women from a remote village and the futility of those aspirations in a world where even marriage is a business deal. “With this deal, we’re interested only in maximizing profits for both parties,” The boy’s father says. But the girl’s family can’t ever touch a deal of the sort that is being offered.

Many dreams crumble. But the women know how to deal with frustrations. After all, they have dealt with so many already. They accept this too with the “bittersweet consolation” of some rationalisations like “This sort of thing happens…”

In the next story, The Last Puff of the Cigarette, the female protagonist is quite a contrast. She asserts herself, her liberty, even by going to the extent of smoking cigarettes and drinking vodka. Her Boy is unable to reconcile himself with that sort of assertiveness. He’s too ‘good’ for her, the Girl decides.

The third story, The Way Things Were, shows how a female teacher alters the world of a young female student. The girl was born 18 years after the marriage of her parents. Their son had hanged himself because he thought death was easier than dealing with his dad’s pain on coming to know about his failure in math. The girl child becomes ever more special to the parents. But she knows that she is a kind of substitute for her dead brother. The teacher brings about a transformation to that situation and helps the girl discover her own identity.

Shyamali Sengupta’s 21-year-long search for her college crush Swati Prakash is the theme of the next story. They had been the best of friends until one day Shayamali got into Swati’s bed in the hostel. Swati changed her room in the hostel the same day. Twenty-one years later they meet again at Tirupati, the temple town. They have realised by now that love can have many shades.

A poignant contrast is presented in The Lines of Destiny with its two women: one a very rich one who is unable to bear a child in spite of all the medical care she gets and the other a very poor one who can work till the last moment and then go into the labour room and give birth to yet another healthy child of hers. The story raises the question about the worth of a woman who can’t bear a child for the family.

The live-in relation of Avi and Naina in the story titled The Live-in has a theme similar to that of The Last Puff of the Cigarette: Incompatibility of certain relationships. “How is marriage possible when in a live-in wasn’t?” is a question that the two young protagonists who are supposedly in love must answer.

Most stories in this collection question the very value of life. “From being born to going to school to attending college to marrying – it’s all without reason,” says the story, Life the Pain, Life the Cure. Is life an incurable disease whose medicine is life itself? The protagonist of this story is still finding the answer.

Anu Singh Choudhary

The meaning of life and human relationships is what binds these 12 stories together. There are many break-ups here. Some make compromises and go on. A few learn the essential lessons from their experiences. Anu Singh Choudhary has created some unforgettable characters in these stories.