Kuhu Learns to Deal with Life
Book Review
Title: Kuhu Learns to Deal with Life
Author: Sonia Dogra
Publisher: Bare Bones Publishing LLP, New Delhi
(2025)
Pages: 106
Childhood is often romanticised as carefree, but it is
in childhood that we first encounter disappointment, fear, uncertainty, and perhaps
loss too. Sonia Dogra’s Kuhu Learns to Deal with Life explores
how a seven-year-old girl learns to process some of these realities.
This little work does not rely on
dramatic twists or extraordinary crises. Instead, the author entrusts her
narrative to the quiet rhythms of a child’s everyday life, both at home and
school. It is precisely this ordinariness that makes the novella extraordinary.
Writing about the mundane activities and emotions of a child and getting
readers hooked to it is never an easy task. In fact, that requires something of
a genius.
In the small negotiations of daily
living, Dogra discovers the emotional epic of childhood. It may be a disappointment
like having to stand right in front of the class row every day because Kuhu is
the shortest student in class. When Kuhu is not offered the role of Snow White
in the annual play, another disappointment knocks her. The birth of a baby
sister hits Kuhu rather hard because suddenly no one at home seems interested
in her anymore.
How Kuhu grows up learning the
essential lessons of life is what this novella is about, as the title indicates.
In a seven-year-old’s world, there aren’t grand conflicts usually. No
theatrical upheavals. Yet the ordinary is never trivial for a child. The
strength of Dogra’s narrative is particularly this deep awareness. Having been
a teacher for many years, Dogra knows children’s world closely and that
awareness is deeply discernible in this story. 
Sonia Dogra
Dogra shows us how a minor setback
can feel monumental and a small triumph can glow like victory in a child’s
world. The drama lies not in events, but in perception.
The charm of this novella is its
simplicity. Through Kuhu’s eyes the simple acquires depth and significance. The
narrative shows us that childhood is not defined by spectacular events, but by
the quiet process of learning to interpret the world.
This book is excellent reading
material for young readers, particularly middle schoolers. That doesn’t mean
adults won’t enjoy reading it. It kept me rooted and I read it in one sitting –
almost.
“Things only ever work the way
grown-ups want them to.” Kuhu is aware of that somewhere deep within her. But
she is also fortunate to have understanding adults around her. The only villainous
character in the narrative belongs to the fairy tale of Snow White.
The recurring motif of Snow White in
the novella is not ornamental, I should point out. It functions as a moral echo
within the narrative architecture. The fairy-tale world, with its stark
opposition between innocence and envy, becomes a metaphorical lens through
which Kuhu interprets her own experiences though not explicitly at all.
On a personal note, I have been familiar with Sonia’s blog for many years and the readers who have visited the blog will recognise the same tonal gentleness that animates this novella. Her digital space is not driven by noise or polemic (like mine), but by a quiet faith in innocence, simplicity, and human goodness. That sensibility flows naturally into Kuhu’s landscape too, making the book feel less like a constructed narrative and more like an organic extension of the author’s worldview.
PS. I received a copy of the book
from the author as part of a prize in a blog hop organised by ECM. In fact, I received four books all of
which are children’s literature one way or the other. I have reviewed three
already in this space. In case you’re interested in the other two, the links
are below.
Children have their own world.
ReplyDeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteSweetness to temper the sour... YAM xx