By Sanjiv Kumar
New Delhi, March 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) Venturing into a big city for a person from a small or non-metro town can often be daunting. If the person comes from a place perceived to be backward, it can be even worse.
Interestingly, growing up in a small town and migrating to big cities may not be measured on a utilitarian scale, though the journey of life against the trials and tribulations of individuals and their frustrations and triumphs ultimately make its imprint palpable in the indifferent world too.
'The Girls From Patna' tells a contemporary story that examines the debate of nature versus nurture - what constitutes a family and home. Is it important to be born into a family or can one build a family out of circumstances, is the central question that it raises?
The book written by senior business journalist Surabhi also looks into the life of an adopted child and how he or she is perceived later in life by relatives and family friends, even if they are happily settled in their own families and life.
The novel begins with the death of the family matriarch - Saroj Sinha, which has her granddaughters - Neha and Priyanka, rushing home to Patna from New Delhi, where they both live.
While Neha and Priyanka are cousin sisters, they have been brought up together as siblings after the untimely death of Priyanka's parents. The two girls have never been able to bridge this gap in their relationship despite the love and support from their parents and family. A common love interest and pressures to marry further cloud their relationship.
Not surprisingly then, it turns out to be a bitter-sweet homecoming for the two young women with old hurts and new misgivings rising to the fore. A cousin's sudden arrest and plans to join politics add more drama to this story.
The question then is whether the two young women will be able to forgive each other and accept that they cannot wish each other away?
"The Girls From Patna also attempts to highlight that the state capital is not as underdeveloped or backward as it is often perceived to be although it is not free of its own set of challenges. It has tried to fight the portrayal of Bihari people in movies and popular culture as interested only in politics or crime to highlight that most of them are well educated, regular people, looking for good jobs and a decent life both in and outside the state," says Surabhi in an interaction with IANS.
The book tries to highlight issues of unemployment, which is still a major challenge for Bihar and leads to much of the youth leaving the state in search of better opportunities.
The novel is also an ode to all the people from small towns, who leave behind the comfort of their homes, in order to get a better education and jobs.
The hesitation that they feel in big cities as well as the various biases that they have to battle as they come from smaller towns is a side commentary in the novel. It is a hard life for anyone, whether they are an immigrant in another country or move to another city to start a new life.
Despite such a heavy theme, the author points out, it is a light-hearted, slice of life story and will ring true with all readers, irrespective of whether they belong to Patna or not. The easy to understand language, pace of the book and realistic characters have made the book relatable for people who have hardly ever read any modern day and realistic stories based in Patna.
An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication and Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi, Surabhi shared her life experiences and gradual journey when she returned to the national capital from Patna in the early 2000s. "Over the years, I have realised that it can take years for people to overcome these tags no matter how smart, funny, brilliant, hard working or good hearted they are. This book is especially for them," she writes in her maiden book.
'The Girls From Patna' urges people, especially girls, to meet the challenges of transient life rather than wish they were not before them. "We must never lose infinite hope in the celebration of a journey called life," the journalist-turned author adds.
(The reviewer is the Master in History from the University of Delhi and demystifies books, movies and music in his leisure)
Source: IANS
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