Bhali Ladkiyan, Buri Ladkiyan (Hindi)
Anu Singh Choudhary
2016
Eka/Hind Yugm
pp. 228
I wanted the first read of this year to be a book by an Indian woman author. I had started reading other books simultaneously but this is the first one that I have managed to complete. With this beginning, it promises to be a good year.
I have read Choudhary’s writing before and I like her perspective to life. Her writings are simple but provide insights and food for thought. The story in this book revolves around four women who are students of the University of Delhi. All four of them have different backgrounds, stories and lifestyles. Yet they overcome differences, and form strong friendship bonds.
Needless to say, I found the book quite engaging and personally meaningful. I realised that student life has changed a whole lot since I was a university student a little over two decades ago. I also realised that in the past decade, my perspective has been very different as a teacher. It is not that as teachers we are not aware about the concerns of college students. The events, issues, circumstances were all very familiar. The book made me pause and wonder if awareness was enough for me to understand the pressures that these situations would pose on students who are new to Delhi. This may be because of my own training, but I tend to find a quest for identity and acceptance a central theme in many books written about and for young adults.
Young women in colleges, in Delhi, and outside, would find the book very appealing. The dilemmas, thoughts and the lack of clarity with young adults engage with is all too familiar. I did not like the last twist in the plot. It was too dramatic for my taste and while it would have otherwise been okay, I found that it took away from the subtleties that were present throughout the book. The book is contemporary in its perspective. Although the author has mentioned the television and theatre adaptations of the story, I am not familiar with either. The twist in the plot may have been a requirement of the same. But I am a reader who is interested in everyday stories much more than stories of heroes.