A review by eskay1891
Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India by Sujatha Gidla
3.0
Worth Reading, but for so many different reasons.
When I studied Engineering, there were many students, especially untouchables, from rural parts of my state and whatever is just life for them is an "unbelievable story" to many of us, urban students. Sujatha Gidla does have an "incredible story" to tell and this is coming-of-age at many levels, India as a nation after independence, Liberation of Hyderabad, uplifting of Gidla's family and Rise of Naxal/Communist fighters.
Book has three uneven parts, more than 1/3rd is about her maternal uncle, Satyamurthy, co-founder of People's War Group, Second part is about her mother and final part in a hush about author. There is enough material for a great memoir, especially a Dalit(untouchable) memoir. But the author went out of her way to add so many opinions (her, mothers or her uncles) to only bring down the intensity.
This could have need a great read, if the author had not:
1. Put down and say mean things about every person in this book. Even the main character, her uncle, she keeps repeating that he can't even do the most basic things for himself like shaving, clipping nails,.. But he leads an organization to change the lives of everyone around him.
PS: On one of the interview, Mr.Satyamurthy called his whole life and struggle a "terrible joke", since everything he believed and fought were meaningless.
Besides author's mother, everyone around them is a sucker, greedy, inept and leech.
2. Since most of the author's relatives could still be alive, why throw them under the bus.
Ex: "I knew the cross-eyed, drooly-mouthed man was fucking my aunts (both of them), making children with them, but not marrying them because they were Christians."
3. This is personal. "PWG had become the most successful guerrilla party in the subcontinent, except perhaps for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka". PWG is just one among the numerous communist rebels in with India, especially on Red Corridor, but comparing with Tamil Tigers is a joke.
When I studied Engineering, there were many students, especially untouchables, from rural parts of my state and whatever is just life for them is an "unbelievable story" to many of us, urban students. Sujatha Gidla does have an "incredible story" to tell and this is coming-of-age at many levels, India as a nation after independence, Liberation of Hyderabad, uplifting of Gidla's family and Rise of Naxal/Communist fighters.
Book has three uneven parts, more than 1/3rd is about her maternal uncle, Satyamurthy, co-founder of People's War Group, Second part is about her mother and final part in a hush about author. There is enough material for a great memoir, especially a Dalit(untouchable) memoir. But the author went out of her way to add so many opinions (her, mothers or her uncles) to only bring down the intensity.
This could have need a great read, if the author had not:
1. Put down and say mean things about every person in this book. Even the main character, her uncle, she keeps repeating that he can't even do the most basic things for himself like shaving, clipping nails,.. But he leads an organization to change the lives of everyone around him.
PS: On one of the interview, Mr.Satyamurthy called his whole life and struggle a "terrible joke", since everything he believed and fought were meaningless.
Besides author's mother, everyone around them is a sucker, greedy, inept and leech.
2. Since most of the author's relatives could still be alive, why throw them under the bus.
Ex: "I knew the cross-eyed, drooly-mouthed man was fucking my aunts (both of them), making children with them, but not marrying them because they were Christians."
3. This is personal. "PWG had become the most successful guerrilla party in the subcontinent, except perhaps for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka". PWG is just one among the numerous communist rebels in with India, especially on Red Corridor, but comparing with Tamil Tigers is a joke.