BOOK REVIEW: A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult (courtesy of Times Reads)
Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks. This medical procedure has been around for decades and decades. Primitive methods have been recorded in papyrus scripts and etched on walls. But is abortion the right or the wrong decision? Is it lawfully supposed to be legal or cordoned off with laws?
One of my favorite authors of all time, Jodi Picoult returns with a powerful and provocative new novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis. This piece of fiction with settings from real life will set you on a heart-touching and mind-reeling journey through the world of abortion and its many situations.
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center, a women's reproductive health services clinic (otherwise known as an abortion factory to pro-life activists). Its staff offer care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then a desperate and distraught gunman, Hugh Goddard, bursts in and opens fire, taking hostages.
After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. To his horror, he learns that his 15-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her adolescent life with a cast of unforgettable characters trapped alongside her in the clinic, including the disturbed gunman himself.
Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, the story traces what brought each of the very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent?
This wonderful book will inspire debate, conversation and hopefully understanding. With a box of tissues by my side, I actually had to restrain myself from sobbing at a few touching parts. The internal debate of an expecting mother when she wants to abort due to unavoidable circumstances, that's real heart pain.
To me, this book has given a much-needed voice to women out there who want to make a choice that others look at as simply horrible. Not encouraging abortions, but giving a clear picture of what it actually means, this is one of the few meaningful reads I have read in this year. I give it my 100% thumbs up and recommend it to all those who want a read that touches both mind and soul.
BOOK REVIEW: Rani Taxis Away (Short Story No.15 from Marriage and Mutton Curry) by M. Shanmughalingam
Alas, my reviews for Marriage and Mutton Curry is about to come to an end as this is the last short story for this compilation. Relating to the struggles of a modern-age Jaffna Tamil girl, the short story is woven with such precision and beauty by master storyteller Dato' Dr. M. Shanmughalingam.
Daughters brought up in conventional Jaffna Tamil families are conservative and leave the decisions to be made by the men of the house. Marriages, friendships and even clothing sense are best determined by the male counterparts. However, the headstrong Rani in this story is unlike the conventional orthodox girl.
Rani has become a teacher in the convent that she previously was a student in. She slowly reminisces her school days, nicknaming the teachers and being a mischievous schoolgirl just like any other. Her father has arranged for a taxi driver, Chandran, to ferry her to and fro from school.
Rani strikes an unlikely friendship with Chandran who is also unlike the conventional Indians. He intends to start a taxi business from the bottom. Rani is attracted to his sense of freewill and ambitiousness. She also relates her first day at school when she teacher her students and her encounters with previous teachers of hers.
One day on her way back, she requests Chandran to stop her at a kueh stall to get traditional cakes and sweets. That's where she bumps into Mrs Kandiah, the rumormonger in their community. Putting one and one together, she thinks that Rani is eloping with a mere taxi driver. With that, she drags Rani back home to complain to her mother regarding this.
Will Rani ever get her independence? Or will she be stuck with the orthodox ways of a typical Jaffna Tamil society? This last story in this compilation will definitely make a woman rethink her rights though brought up in an orthodox family. So grab a copy of this book before it's all sold out!
BOOK REVIEW: Free and Freed (Short Story No.14 in Marriage and Mutton Curry) by M. Shanmughalingam
Oh! Doctor/engineer/accountant mappilai (groom)! Praise be to god! These are the things normally uttered by the elders of an Indian family not excluding the Jaffna Tamil society. Highly looked upon till today, most of the Indian families purposely weedle their sons into furthering their studies to become one of those mentioned above, whether they like it or not.
So what do you think happens when the daughter of someone in a Jaffna Tamil community is seen gallivanting with a guy who doesn't seem to look right in the eyes of the elders in the community, but who is actually a doctor, is confronted? In this hilarious short story written by the laughter-inducing Dato' Dr. M. Shanmughalingam, the tables are turned on the elders, putting them in a tough situation.
Mrs Kandiah (due to her sharp sword of her tongue, she is nicknamed Kaiser Kandiah) and Mrs Chelliah (Chatterbox Chelliah, way too much talking and gossiping) are talking to each other one day. Gossip is travelling among the folk that Muthiah's daughter is hanging out with a man who is out of the community. It is uncommon for well brought up daughters to elope with men from outside the community who don't have proper education and no finances.
Mrs Kandiah gets worked up into a frenzy and intends to teach the young man a lesson. She goes to the stage of telling she would show him a slipper to signify that he is nothing more than the filthy slipper and that she has trodden more miles in life than him. So Mrs Kandiah and Mrs Chelliah hatch a plan to confront the boy and Muthiah's daughter in the cinema.
Do you think the confrontation led to the silverscreen-worthy breakups as seen in the Tamil films? Or perhaps an unexpected switching of sides take place? I don't want to be the spoiler to this story, dear readers. The ending of this story had me in stitches and I know it will leave you in such a situation as well.
For more hilarious, tear-wrenching and altogether interesting short stories, Marriage and Mutton Curry is definitely a book that deserves applause for its literary work. It's already on the shelves of most good bookstores so getting your hands on one is going to be easy peasy lemon squeezy!
BOOK REVIEW: The Indra Quartet (Short Story No.13 in Marriage and Mutton Curry) by M. Shanmughalingam
Hello readers! Did you all read my previous review on Flowers for KK? If you guys did, then you will be able to relate to its continuation which is the Indra Quartet. Written by the prose-worthy Dato' Dr. M. Shanmughalingam, this story paints a picture of two sisters fighting over their children.
Kumari is the daughter of Acca, the first wife of KK while Raja is the son of Thangechi, KK's second wife. Acca's bitterness towards Thangechi robbing her of the role of sole wife to KK makes her tell Thangechi to give up her son Raja to Acca, making Raja Acca's son.
When Raja is sent off to college in Singapore, Kumari is sent along with him to keep an eye on him. For this many years after KK's death, Acca tries to keep the secret about Raja being Thangechi's son away from him and her daughter. Everyday, as both of them grow, it becomes a hassle to Acca.
Acca treats Thangechi like the house maid to prevent her from nearing both the children. However, Thangechi tries her level best to make Kumari understand that she is the only legal child to Acca and that Raja is her son. For instance, Thangechi brings Kumari through the government quarters when they go the mill. This makes Kumari aware of gossip about a family of two sisters fighting over the children (little does Kumari know that the family is actually her very own).
One day, Raja comes home in a huff. He gets sent away from college due to his incapability in studies. However, the shock that awaits him at home is even bigger than his being unable to cope in college. What shocks him to his roots? Do find out and you may be equally in shock too.
So what are you all waiting for? Marriage and Mutton Curry is on the shelves already. Get it while it's still on the shelf.
BOOK REVIEW: Flowers for KK (Short Story No.12 from Marriage and Mutton Curry) by M. Shanmughalingam
If you are a jealous young woman like myself, you would only want the guy solely to yourself. All hands off deck! Even in the thresholds of marriage, it will be only you and your man, like it or not. But what if circumstances turned the tables on you, and he is forced to marry another? Would you accept it?
In this cleverly woven story of sororate marriages in the Jaffna Tamil society, Dato' Dr. M. Shanmughalingam depicts the sorrows of the first wife and the reality of marriages to the husband getting married to the sister in the same family he takes the bride from.
Mr. Kanagaretnam, nicknamed King Kana (hence the abbreviation KK), is married to Acca, the elder sister of the family. Alas, they have been childless for many years and this frustrates and angers KK because it is considered a shame to the family. At this point, KK brings up the issue of sororate marriages to Acca and announces that he'd marry Thangechi (the younger sister) in order to welcome a heir into the family.
Due to the lack of a child, KK treats Acca pretty disrespectfully and orders her around. Even if she tied a saree a little above her ankles, she is asked to retie it again. The way she applies talcum powder on her face or ties her hair bun is duly chastised by KK.
When KK puts forward the plan of marrying Thangechi, he even brings both Acca and Thangechi to one of his formal functions. Indirectly, he is already showing off that if he can't have a child with his first wife he can always marry another. Thangechi can't seem to understand the bitterness of Acca towards her for pulling the rug off from under her feet.
Can you guess what happens to Acca and Thangechi when Thangechi gets married to KK? Does Thangechi conceive as thought of by KK or does Acca conceive to fill in the need of a heir? Does Acca's love remain for KK and Thangechi or does KK treat Acca better than Thangechi? All these questions I'm going to shoot it back to you fellow readers.
For more mind dazzling stories on the Jaffna Tamil society, Malaysia's rich history or just plain good reading, Marriage and Mutton Curry should definitely be on your TBR list.
BOOK REVIEW: Dodol for The Doctor (Short Story No.11 from Marriage and Mutton Curry) by M. Shanmughalingam
Malaysians are ever familiar with the gummy sweet delicacy of dodol, glutinous rice flour cooked to a thick goo that is flavored with pandanus leaves and sometimes even durian. Nothing can be better than a short story woven around this delicacy as composed by Dato' Dr. M. Shanmughalingam.
In the past two reviews, readers would have been exposed to the ups and downs in the life of Rasamah, her husband Kandasamy as well as her friend Chelvi and Chelvi's husband, Chellapah.
Rasamah is burning to share with her friend Chelvi some good news of hers. She awaits Chelvi to make some dodol with her while she spills the beans on the good news. They also discuss on their husbands pending retirements and what it would be like to suddenly have them around 24/7. Then slowly Rasamah tells Chelvi the good news.
Kamala, Rasamah's daughter, has received a marriage proposal from a doctor named Dr. Selladurai. Dr. Selladurai was smitten by Kamala's violin recital and immediately requested for a hosroscope match to be seen. Little did Rasamah know that Chelvi, upon hearing this good news, has something up her sleeves.
The very next day, Chelvi visits Dr. Selladurai on the pretext of herself having chest pain. In that span of time, Chelvi mentions about her daughter to the doctor and even shows him a picture of her. Chelvi also hands him a package of, you guessed it, dodol. Who do you think made this dodol and why do you think Chelvi had to meet Dr. Selladurai after Rasamah broke the good news to her?
Rasamah caught wind of the news from another friend of hers but without a moment's doubt she still communicates with Chelvi. Chelvi and Rasamah make a trip to the Kandaswamy temple in Scott Road to pray for blessings. The turn of events after that is what all you readers should look out for.
A short story that relates strong friendship and betrayal to that exact same friendship, this short story left me in utter shock. If you want to know why I'm in such a situation after reading this short story, I highly recommend this book for your reading pleasure.
BOOK REVIEW: Marriage and Mutton Curry (Short Story No.10 from Marriage and Mutton Curry) by M. Shanmughalingam
If you have read the previous review of The Barefoot Man from Malaya, then it would be easier to have this short story to fall in place. A continuation from that, this short story carved out by the prosaic Dato' Dr. M. Shanmughalingam, is very touching and paints the relationship of a typical Tamil couple, even a Jaffna Tamil couple.
Rasamah rethinks of her marriage to Kandasamy, the way he unconventionally proposed to her and the way she married him in a heartbeat. But now after marriage and stepping Malaya, she regrets silently of her marriage to him as her heart is full of unfulfilled ambitions and dreams.
Staying in the government quarters, she is forced to seek solace in a neighbor of hers, Chelvi, a total village bumpkin and uneducated unlike Rasamah who has proper education. She becomes firm friends with Chelvi and shares with her the ups and downs, dreams and aspirations she has.
Kandasamy is portrayed as the typical Tamil husband. Wondering how these husbands behave? After marriage, the romance just evaporates, wives are just seen as those who clean, wash and cook and look after the household. Wives are treated with a certain distance and are only given extra treatment at certain times of the year like Deepavali.
Rasamah's daring ambition to break the norms of a Tamil Jaffna girl by teaching sets Kandasamy into a frenzy and he vehemently pushes the idea away. To him, if his wife worked, it only meant he was incapable of providing for the family. Yeah, the same issue as in any orthodox family. Rasamah feels dejected by Kandasamy's disapproval of her doing something for herself.
One day, when Kandasamy informs Rasamah of good news that he is about to get promoted. However, he mentioned that it was to be a secret as some office politics were going around and that he was to be promoted instead of his seniors. Rasamah's couldn't contain her joy and spilled the beans to Chelvi, her best friend and neighbor.
Does everyone have the capacity to keep a secret? Maybe not. Chelvi in turn relates this to her drunkard of her husband who jumps at any chance of toppling Kandasamy in office to take his place.
The turn of events in the story after this is for you to find out and for me to keep a lid on. To know what happens to Rasamah, Kandasamy and Chelvi, read Marriage and Mutton Curry by one of Malaysia's top authors. A guaranteed good read, it will set your lips into a smile or perhaps a teardrop to stray down your cheeks with its touching moments in each short story.
