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Reba, the strong woman



Book Review


Title: Strong Woman: Reba Rakshit

Author: Ida Jo Pajunen

Publisher: Om Books International, 2024

Pages: 218

Reba Rakshit was a rare kind of entertainer. She could lift an elephant on her chest. She would lie on a mat and a huge plank would be placed on her chest. An elephant would walk on that plank. Reba could bear the weight of that elephant though for a few seconds.

Reba was born in what now is Bangladesh. She migrated with her sister to Calcutta (today Kolkata) to live with her uncle who promised them good education. That was a decade and a half before India became independent. A man named Bishnu Charan Gosh discovered Reba’s potential and trained her to become a performer. He was running a college of physical education in Calcutta where Reba became a trainee while she was also pursuing regular school studies. Eventually Ghosh made Reba capable of doing many things like breath control using yoga, weight-lifting, and mind control. Soon enough, Ghosh found her a coveted place in a few famous circuses that came to Calcutta. After Reba became famous with her elephant stunts, the circuses started taking her to faraway places too. Ghosh accompanied her. Reba was earning huge sums of money and Ghosh was her guru as well as manager.

This short biography throws ample light into Reba’s active life. The biography ends when Reba was young but she put an end to her career for health-related reasons.

The author of this book came across some writings of Reba and took interest in her. She collected as many details as she could about this woman who retreated from public life in her youth itself. We get to know how a performer of this sort manages her life. The book has little more to offer than that. The book is about the dedication and hard work of a young individual to achieve what she wanted to: success and fame. Was she happy after she achieved that in her youth itself and then retired? The book doesn’t answer that. Probably, nothing much is known about that part of Reba’s life. Reba died in 2010 at the age of 77.

The book could have become more engaging if the author could find more insights into the life of the person called Reba, like her later life and her views on her career which became extinct in her lifetime. As it is, the book remains a mere factual description of the life of a stunt-performer.

A page from the book

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Comments

  1. Liz A.February 25, 2025 at 8:32 AM

    It begs the question: was she happy performing or was she forced into it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 25, 2025 at 9:53 AM

      She was not forced except maybe towards the end when she developed certain health issues.

      Delete
  2. Yamini MacLeanFebruary 25, 2025 at 9:13 AM

    Hari Om
    ...so, a newspaper article extended beyond its word count? YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sintra blogueFebruary 26, 2025 at 12:05 AM

    "A man named Bishnu Charan Gosh discovered Reba’s potential and trained her to become a performer. He was running a college of physical education in Calcutta where Reba became a trainee while she was also pursuing regular school studies. Eventually Ghosh made Reba capable of doing many things like breath control using yoga, weight-lifting, and mind control." Indeed, as you mention, it's a pity that we don't know much about her later life, namely, how this training was helpful afterwards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 27, 2025 at 8:50 PM

      Maybe, there's no literature available on those details.

      Delete
  4. peppylady (Dora)February 26, 2025 at 6:11 AM

    Never heard of her. One thing about blogging. Is what one can learn.

    ReplyDelete
  5. rupam sarmaFebruary 27, 2025 at 1:39 PM

    Great read about Reba Rakshit, Amazing

    ReplyDelete

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