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Reviews tagging 'Grief'
Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India by Sujatha Gidla
1 review
torvosaur's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
This book paints such a vivid picture of India in its birth pangs, how the nation was forged in the fires of various movements, Communist, Congress and otherwise - all through the story of an "untouchable" Dalit family, the author's own.
We have read histories and stories of the Independence movement of India, one of the most fabled movements against colonialism. However, seldom have I read a perspective that is this gritty and paints a picture of one of the most exploited sections of Indian society, which continues to battle discrimination and violence. Who was this freedom for, who were these rights for?Â
This book is a biography of the author's uncle - KG Satyamurthy, a Dalit naxalite communist revolutionary, as well as his sister Manjulabai - the author's mother, a struggling teacher. It is written in a flowing narrative style that is familiar to me as a Telugu - a long story of a life, as characters appear and disappear, people's sketches go and come leaving you thinking who was right in their place after all - exactly how my grandparents narrated stories to me. People who live in the constant tyranny, uncertainity and poverty are constantly affected in every way by it, and this book reflects how people pick up pieces of their life and walk on, despite all of it.Â
You will hate some of the book's characters, you will love some of them, you'll be angered by the injustice of it all, and you'll cry with sheer despair with the author's picture of a broken family in a society that is unforgiving and cruel. But more importantly, you'll see a perspective that you will never have thought of before.
This could be a better book in so many respects - a glossary of Telugu terms, a family tree, and a few pictures would have made this book a lot more accessible to non-Telugu/Indian folks, and the narrative can get jarring sometimes, and could use a little editing.
However, I rate it four stars because of its sheer heart. The author is sincere and direct, never masking or filtering for the audience. A must read, despite any politcial disagreements you may have - maybe you'll see why people you might have despised acted the way they did.
We have read histories and stories of the Independence movement of India, one of the most fabled movements against colonialism. However, seldom have I read a perspective that is this gritty and paints a picture of one of the most exploited sections of Indian society, which continues to battle discrimination and violence. Who was this freedom for, who were these rights for?Â
This book is a biography of the author's uncle - KG Satyamurthy, a Dalit naxalite communist revolutionary, as well as his sister Manjulabai - the author's mother, a struggling teacher. It is written in a flowing narrative style that is familiar to me as a Telugu - a long story of a life, as characters appear and disappear, people's sketches go and come leaving you thinking who was right in their place after all - exactly how my grandparents narrated stories to me. People who live in the constant tyranny, uncertainity and poverty are constantly affected in every way by it, and this book reflects how people pick up pieces of their life and walk on, despite all of it.Â
You will hate some of the book's characters, you will love some of them, you'll be angered by the injustice of it all, and you'll cry with sheer despair with the author's picture of a broken family in a society that is unforgiving and cruel. But more importantly, you'll see a perspective that you will never have thought of before.
This could be a better book in so many respects - a glossary of Telugu terms, a family tree, and a few pictures would have made this book a lot more accessible to non-Telugu/Indian folks, and the narrative can get jarring sometimes, and could use a little editing.
However, I rate it four stars because of its sheer heart. The author is sincere and direct, never masking or filtering for the audience. A must read, despite any politcial disagreements you may have - maybe you'll see why people you might have despised acted the way they did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, and Grief
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