Book Review- A Calendar too Crowded

As a kid we all have heard stories that were aimed at inculcating virtues, manners and good qualities. This book is a collection of stories which have a similar intent; however the only difference is that, it is meant for all of us – irrespective of what age we are.

 The book covers a range of issue facing females in our society. It raises tough questions that we have been shying away to answer as a society. The book achieves this daunting feat of raising the level of understanding and awareness about several complex issues by a very simple yet enjoyable writing across all the stories and poems.

To review this book just as a collection of story and a work of fiction would be a mistake. It is as much a piece of literature as it is of research into a social science. The depth of research that has gone into the making of this book is commendable, maturity in dealing with issues has been high class and the sensitivity in presentation is extraordinary.

Be it the confusion and frustration of a girl entering her first menstrual cycle, anger and ambitions of a young feminist who wants to change the world overnight, the fatigue of a middle-aged mother who has resignedly adjusted to the injustice of certain degree, anguish of an accomplished lady, serene satisfaction and pride of a successful housewife and many other facets of a woman’s life are covered in different stories.

The precision and careful description of every situation shows the powerful observation on the part of author, as she really brings all the scenes alive in the readers’ mind. . At times the author is ruthlessly honest which frees the book from stereotype feminist expressions which put women on either of the extremes.

 Moreover the range of expressions, issues and insights covered are also indicative of the depth and thought that have gone into making of these short stories and poems. References to the traditions and some of the characters of ancient epics also draw a useful and elaborative parallel between the social conditions of women across different times.  And the situations of protagonists in each story ensure that the author has covered the issues faced by women across the entire life cycle.

This book can be a great means to form a cogent argument for women empowerment at a societal level, and it can also be equally great help to you to understand the different roles that a woman plays your life a little better. Either ways, it serves a noble purpose.

Needless to say, it is worth reading and Sagarika has done a fabulous job!

Dhruv

Life is like that....!!

At first I did not recognize him; however his face seemed similar and known. After pressing a little harder on the memory chip, I recollected that he was my classmate from school.

On meeting him, I told him that he looked quite different in office attire and with a suitcase of course! “I have become a professional now.” He answered with a slight grin.

From his face I could gather the sense of victory he had in his mind. He had been working for a life insurance company as an agent and had done quite successfully. Later he also took up the agency work for mutual funds and other financial products.

As an MBA I have been infected with the habit of asking stereotype (yet intelligent looking) questions to all irrespective of our own knowledge about the entire story.

So I asked “what is the best and the worst part of your job?” “You MBAs are so much like each other!!! Almost everyone asks similar questions!!” He told this time with a slight disgust in his voice.

I wanted to protect the sheen of our creed, but sensing his anger I remained silent and seconded his opinion. At times people vent the anger of their failure by disparaging others, and this old pal of mine was doing the same thing.

If somebody is doing wrong, someone has to set him right! So I extended my inquiry and argument further after I thought that he had cooled off. “Questions may be similar but the way we all process answers may be different.” He looked back sternly, this time. However, I had made up my mind not to let it go this time, and elaborated on my question a bit. “What is it you think that makes your mutual fund products sell you think?” I waited for the answer, none came.

Finally, I thought to myself “One last try... Change the question a little bit more...” I asked “what do you like the most about stock markets, or mutual funds?”

“You know what…” he started answering, satisfying my hubris. “My life is very similar to that of a performance of mutual fund or Stock market over the long run, that’s what I like the most about it.” I kept quiet hoping that he would elaborate on what he just said. He did. “There may be crashes in between, due to reasons that are unfathomable, out of control or even out of imagination, but after some times the returns set the losses off. The only thing you need to have is the courage to bear the losses and time enough to let wounds heal on their own. One more thing, you should never try to understand it ahead of its time.”

I realized how Fickle is the power that we draw from our advantageous background, schooling, upbringing and qualification when it comes to stand up to some of the unavoidable circumstances that life has to offer. It’s something more than we study that really matters.

This episode taught two very significant things, first was that making inferences from limited data may be quite intelligent but it can be grossly unjust to apply that thing to individuals, we never really know what battles the other person may be fighting. And second was that life indeed is perhaps like Mutual funds and stock market, “full of ups and downs, signifying nothing!!”