Book Review #51: Gruhabhanga By Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa

A book that is full of tragic events. A book that is full of emotions. A book that is full of family problems. A book that is full of foul language. Yet, this is a book that speaks about a woman. This is a book that speaks about the hurdles overcome by a strong woman. This is a book that speaks about what it takes to live life. Finally, this is a book that speaks about strong will.

Gruhabhanga is a stirring, emotional and tragic novel from my favorite author Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa. The title “Gruhabhanga” can be fairly translated to English as “Destruction of a house”. Well, this is a literal translation. The real meaning or the crux of the novel speaks about a household. It speaks about various people from this household and their little stories. This is one of the epitomes of Indian Novels. This novel has been made into a daily serial or popularly called as sitcoms. It was such a huge hit at that time and even today this book marks as the only few books that got translated into all Indian official languages. This novel was originally published in Kannada language.

The entire story of the novel takes place in somewhere between 1920’s till 1950’s spanning close to 30 to 35 years. Due to the backdrop of village in this story, this novel strikes a chord with its readers. The main theme of the novel can be considered as a mere family story. But, the stirring images of each and every character are what make it as a class apart.

The main protagonist of the novel is a woman called Nanjavva.  She was fairly educated girl and her father Kanthijoyeesa is a well learned Brahman. In one of the unfortunate events, Nanjavva will get married to a person called Chennigaraya. Chennigaraya had a mother Gangavva (A widow) and a younger brother Appannayya. Chennigaraya was a village revenue collector. His job was to collect the revenue from the farmers, counting the number of acres that each farmer is cultivating, and type of the crop they are cultivating and amount of the crops that they grow each year. He has to sum up all these calculations from across 40 other villages and should submit these records to a nearby government office. He will be given commission based on this records collection.

During Nanjavva’s initial marriage days, everything was going smooth and happy. In just few months, her mother-in-law Gangavva, a bad mouthed woman will unnecessarily interfere with the affairs of Nanajvva and Chennigaraya. This intrusion has become worse day by day as such, one day, Chennigaraya who is a momma’s boy, will start beating Nanjavva and he even stopped going to revenue collection. This was the turning point in this novel.

Having learnt all these things, Nanjavva decides to take care of her family. Now she is a mother of 3 children. She begins herself to go for revenue collection and she starts to write all the records and only she would get the signature from her husband. Few learned members from the village will be aiding Nanjavva in her quest towards raising her children. During all these years, Gangavva, the mother-in-law of Nanjavva will be badmouthing her and often tries to link up illicit relationship with other men in the village. These events made Chennigaraya to abandon Nanjavva forever.

Later part of the novel is simply mind blowing. Author SLB has made this Nanjavva a role model for all the working women out there. Nanajvva slowly build her identity in the village. She often begged for few days in order to feed her children. She stayed in racks of an old abandoned house and making leaf plates to make the meets end. By this time, her elder son Ramanna was about to finish his school and his elder daughter is the age of marriage. Due to the help of few kind hearted villagers, Nanjavva was able to conduct her daughter’s marriage in a simple ceremony to a school teacher Surya Narayana. Surya Narayana, who is a school teacher in a neighbor village, will inform Nanjavva that, he will find a house and then he will take his wife there. Till that time, Nanjavva’s elder daughter will stay at her mother’s house.

Here, the fate plays an unfortunate incident in Nanjavva’s life thorough the author’s imagination. The entire village was attacked by plague epidemic starting with her house. Unfortunately, both her elder son and elder daughter passed away on the same day in a span of 3 hours who was suffering from plague. This incident made Nanjavva to lose faith in god. Fearing the same death for her younger son, she sends him off to her brother’s house and starts to live alone.

Nanjavva had always dreamt of her own house in the village. She works very hard to save the required amount of money and buys an old house and she starts to reconstruct the house. But fate was planning something else for her. As soon as she finished the construction of her house, there was another tragedy that struck in this household through the death of Nanjavva herself. She was attacked by the same plague epidemic and now the entire novel takes it turn towards climax.

In all these events, Chennigaraya the good for nothing husband of Nanjavva was seen with no emotions at all. Brainwashed by his mom, he expresses no grief over the death of his wife or children. He didn’t even bother to check on his younger son who is staying at Nanjavva’s borther’s house. He ended up visiting prostitutes on a daily basis.

What happened to Nanjavva’s younger son? Was he living peacefully in his uncle’s house? To know the answer, one must read the book. I think there was no better climax given to this book than this.

The above synopsis seems very simple. But, the vivid story described in this book will make anyone weep while reading this novel. The choice of words seems very daring. Since, no other novelist was dared enough to write such foul language in any novel. These words include Bastard, Son of a Bitch, Fuck You; Fuck your mom, Slut, etc... Etc… as I said, this is a village backdrop story, hence, the foul words is an apt choice of expressing one’s anger or resentment.

Overall, I feel this novel will stand tall as one of the greatest novel ever written in the history of Indian literature. At the same time, this novel will make the readers understand about the cultural practices, traditions, caste systems of a 1930’s India. I recommend this book to be read by everyone. It’s like a once in a lifetime.

My Rating:

5/5

Book Review #35: The Book of Secrets - Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life By Deepak Chopra

This is a nice book on self-realization. I did not say it is a self help book, solely because, it doesn't helps you to attain or achieve something, it actually helps you realize more of yourself. This is the first book of Deepak Chopra I have read. Without a doubt, I liked this book. He has written with much eloquence and I believe Chopra has achieved in what he was trying to say.

If you think this is a self help book, certainly it is not. I didn't consider it as one. This is beyond self help book. Though it has some exercise sections on what to do, how to do and stuffs like that. It actually helps you to understand more of you in every aspect of your life ranging from Mind, Body, Spirit, Spiritual, Relationships, Time, Death, Birth, etc...

I somehow sensed a feeling that, Mr. Chopra is teaching the Nondualism concept in every chapter. In Hinduism, this is greatly considered as the teachings of Advaita Vedanta a cult started by the famous 8th century sage or a monk or whatever you wish to call him, Adi Shankaracharya who helped the masses of those days to move towards non-dualism, which means, God resides in every being, there is no separate god and human in this world, there is only one thing, that is, the realization of god within one's own mind.

I sensed Mr. Chopra has written exactly the same thing leaving no stone unturned. With a touch of western oriented philosophical or spiritual mindset, he has given his readers, an exceptional piece of work in the name of Book of Secrets.

I really liked how he has organized this book. Every chapter reveals a secret of its own, leading a reader to attain a complete realization after each and every chapter. This particular book is not one of those books where you read in one sitting and forget and move on. Rather, it should be read slowly and be savoured with the flavor of Non-Dualism.

There is nothing to dissect in this review. I just give you the chapter names that explains all by itself.

The Mystery of Life is Real
The World is in You
Four Paths Leads to Unity
What You Seek, You Already Are
The Cause of Suffering is Unreality
Freedom Tames the Mind
Every Life is Spiritual
Evil is Not Your Enemy
You Live In Multidimensions
Death Makes Life Possible
The Universe Thinks Through You
There is No Time But Now
You Are Truly Free When You Are Not A Person
The Meaning of Life is Everything
Everything is Pure Essence

I guess you all had a glimpse of what Chopra is trying to say in this book. Though equipped with a fair knowledge of Non-Dualism, I had a feeling of revisioning everything again. Thanks to the author. This book certainly helps anyone, provided they must be ready to open up themselves to receive an unusual way of advice.

Some of the quotes that I liked from the book:

"If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another."

"Evolution is win-win…life is self-correcting."

"Pain is not the same as suffering. Left to itself, the body discharges pain spontaneously, letting go of it the moment that the underlying cause is healed. Suffering is pain that we hold on to. It comes from the mind’s mysterious instinct to believe that pain is good, or that it cannot be escaped, or that the person deserves it."

"Don't let a day go by without asking who you are…each time you let a new ingredient to enter your awareness."

"Meeting a stranger can be totally fleeting and meaningless, for example, unless you enter the individual’s world by finding out at least one thing that is meaningful to his or her life and exchange at least one genuine feeling. Tuning in to others is a circular flow: you send yourself out toward people; you receive them as they respond to you."

"Be content not with your lot in life but with being here in the flow of life. The glories of creation are in your very cells; you are made of the same mindstuff as the angels, the stars, and god himself."

"Don't follow someone else’s map. You should glean teachings from all directions, keeping true to those that bring progress yet remaining open to changes in yourself."

"The willingness to reach inside every part of yourself opens the door to total understanding. You place your entire identity on the line, not just an isolated part. This may sound daunting, but actually it’s the most natural way to approach any situation. When you hold some part of yourself in reserve you deny it exposure to life; you repress its energy and keep it form understanding what it needs to know."

Overall a good book with a new perspective. I recommend for everyone to read at least once in their lifetime.

My Rating:
5/5