Read this book to cry and laugh about the getting of wisdom of a young woman: born in India, arriving in England as a very young baby, going to school and growing up in London, going to university in Hertford.
Growing up in one’s own culture can be pretty painful, especially during the teenage years. It is even more painful growing up in a different culture to that of your peer group as well as that of your parents, and especially if you are also recognisably different. If you are a sensitive soul, the bullies have a field day. You also might blame yourself for not being the person that everyone, including yourself, expects you to be.
Well-meaning, concerned, anxious parents also contribute to the angst, especially if they feel it is their moral duty to arrange a suitable marriage for you.
With a deft and stylish touch, Sushi Das takes us through this painful period of her life. Her efforts to fit in by trying to be like everybody else, and to be liked by everybody, may remind the reader of similar painful moments from his/her own life.
Sushi Das does not spare herself: all those awkward, often foolish decisions that a person can make are teased out in both anguished and hilarious detail. Her fierce refusal to marry an excellently suitable young man, her mother’s sorrow and disgust, her father’s rage and fury, her younger sister’s lack of comprehension of her stand, and her brother’s contrasting and envied freedom (because he was a boy), are acutely described.
It became clear to her that she needed to deliberately choose her own way of life – not just to react and oppose her parents on principle – but with courage and strength to take responsibility for her decisions.
This lovely, ultimately joyous memoir, celebrates the struggle of everywoman in this situation.
