Some stories are simplistically told with underlying social message and these stories stay with you. Zorba Books published Amma by Rajjan Shinghal is one such book that I came across.
The book follows the story of Amma who lives in a quaint village of Uttarakhand. She has two sons – Birju and Shibbu. Birju likes the teacher of the school, Radha and wishes to marry her. This news is broken to Radha by Shibbu. Soon, Amma follows up and Radha reveals her story. We get to know how Radha is a orphan who was left by her parents in a dustbin. She was about to be gnawed by the street dogs when she was saved by an old man. Soon she was handed over to Guru Maa, who took her under her wings and became her mother. Radha has two sisters who have a similar tale. And the past life of Guru Maa isn’t all that happy either.
The story is fun loving and emotional as well. It is written and told simplistically. The Hindi language used is lucid and understandable. The story gave me feels. I had become a part of Radha’s life in no time. The story though woven seamlessly yet it was episodic. The highlight of the story was the difficult life of a girl child. How they are disowned and what would have happened to them if Radha, Meena and Machlu hadn’t found shelter with Guru Maa. Then the author also makes a strong statement on the casteism. All this is done quite subtly is what I loved the most about this novel.
Another fact worth mentioning is that the narration mostly is in conversation format and the characters are brought alive through these dialogues. Primarily you will see Amma, Shibbu, Birju, Radha and Meena as main characters in this novel but there are other characters like that of Kaki Maa and Guru Maa, the villagers like Billu Taii, Chaudhari mama, Rahmat chacha, Panditji, who also give attendance from time to time. I loved the character of Shibbu. He was fun and often brought a smile to my face and pulled off laughter because of his innocent banters.
Overall, if you wish to begin reading Hindi books then you can sure start with this lighthearted, fun loving story.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Publisher: Zorba Books
To buy the book, pls click https://amzn.to/2MesWEU
I can’t read hindi properly ! But I love the story there ! It’s amazing ! The woman power ! Bdw nicely written
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I love Hindi books and this one seems so interesting ..Thanks for bringing this to us!
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I am ashamed to admit that my Hindi reading speed is super slow and that deters me from reading books in Hindi.
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Im so fascinated by this book after reading your review; the story touches a chord and makes me want to know mire. Great review.
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This looks like a very interesting read, the story looks nice to me. I am going to give this one a read for sure. Thanks for bringing this to us
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The book Amma seems to tell a story that is infused with the fragrance of the earth. A story close to the land and filled with local flavour.
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I read mostly Hindi poems but this looks very interesting will check this out to read.
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I have not read anything in Hindi from long. But this book I might read it just because of the story.
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Feeling very sad while saying this, but I am a very slow reader when it comes to Hindi books. especially the ones with heavy words. I like light books when it comes to HINDI books which I can read quickly
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I love to read Hindi books and this book looks super interesting, thanks for throwing light on this, surely going to read.
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My mother loves stories of these kind… I am someone who is highly emotional and would cry over this for weeks… 😂 I better gift this to mom. She will love it!
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Hindi is my first language and I love reading books and poems in hindi. This book sounds like a must-read.
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The plot seems to be quite intriguing. Thanks for the review and I will surely check out.
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I like reading stories which have more of conversations as it interests me well. I would get this one for my reading session.
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A 4.5 star rating is quite something! I agree with you that a subtle message is also a strong one – and casteism definitely needs to exit from the collective consciousness of the people!
The characters sound real and lovely, and a book that you smile through is definitely a winner!
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