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BOOK REVIEW - Three Thousand Stitches
BOOK REVIEW - Three Thousand Stitches
ENGLISH - II
BOOK REVIEW
OF
THREE THOUSAND
STITCHES BY SUDHA
MURTHY
SUBMITTEDTO: SUBMITTEDBY:
DR.(MRS.)ALKASINGH AYUSHTRIVEDI
ASSISTANTPROFESSOR EnrollmentNo.190101047
(ENGLISH) B.A.LL.B.(Hons.)
In ‘How to beat the boys’, the author narrated story of her engineering
college, where she was the only girl and how she tackled this situation and
later this experience helped her in many ways. The experience encouraged
and motivated her to follow this attitude throughout her life..
‘Food for thought’ is a story, where the author went to her friend’s place for
lunch. Her father is a botanist and further, she gets to know the origin of
various vegetables and fruits and how they come to India.
Three handful of water’ narrates the writer’s early introduction to the place
Kashi and how it is important to visit Kashi. The place gave her undying
memories of her grandmother , she fondly called Avva, she carried with her
the priceless treasures of her Avva’s life in a small Kumkum Box, it carried
all her belongings, her ornaments and the Kumkum that she would adorn
herself with during festivals. Kashi is a very holy city and it is often said one
can feel their ancestral lineages here, people go there to achieve a sense of
spiritual peace and well being, oftentimes it is said that one can wash their
sins in the river Ganges in Kashi, but with the changing times Kashi has
become a more commercialized city with devotion falling prey to money
making
‘Cattle class’ story is featured in many news reports. In this story, the author
is travelling to a city and flies from the business class, however being such a
simple, humble and down to earth person she would always prefer dressing
in a sari, she encountered two women who dressed in western attires and
called her as cattle class on the airport just because of her simple attire,
they assumed her to be a poor person who could not afford a business class
ticket. However, the story takes a twist when Sudha is in her office and the
same two women she encountered on the flight come to meet her to request
her for a grant. She then while narrating the experience to her secretary
teaches the two women a lesson. The story shows how a person should
always be humble to his roots and never judge others on superficial
appearances
‘A life unwritten’ set in 1943 depicts a story of the writer’s father Dr. R.H.
Kulkarni, a doctor who was fondly called RH. He was on duty in the remote
area where he was forced to deliver a child of an 16 year old unmarried girl,
the doctor was forcefully called, but he was not a gynaecologist, but with
whatever remembrance of a few deliveries he had assisted in medical
school he delivered the child safely. Years later, this girl meets him and a
convention and urges him to come home to meet her mother who has been
waiting for such a long time to meet him and on reaching he finds out that
she has become a doctor and has her own diagnostics which has been
named after Sudha’s father, R.H. Diagnostics. This story is absolutely
heartwarming
In ‘No place like home’ the author had gone for a seminar in the Middle East
meets some women who are the housemaids there and they all are going
through with the struggles of life, slavery is very prominent in the east where
young women from lesser known countries are lured into the trap of
employment by offering them a promising handsome salary and to take care
of their families back at home. These women fall into the trap and get
misguided and mistreated in their working conditions, they are often abused
and harassed , the story depicts the experiences of such women, after
hearing out all their stories Sudha realizes that even if they flee from their
workplaces they don’t have enough money to go back home, so she
promises them that the organization would fund their expenses of a one way
ticket back home for all the women who come to the shelter
‘Rasleela and the swimming pool’ is the story where the author narrates
mythological stories to her grandchildren who listen with rapt attention ,
mythological stories have been passed down by the generations and are
often heard when their grandparents recite it to them, however as the
generations change one can see the differences and a more westernized
approach in their thinking, one such example has been shown in the story,
Sudha’s grandchildren have a completely hilarious interpretation of
mythological stories told by sudha to them which leaves her completely
speechless!
Next story is ‘A day in Infosys foundation’. Sudha’s old friend who grew up
with her in her hometown Hubli complains to her that she is very busy and
she doesn’t have time for her close friend. On this, the author invited her to
be with her the whole day and see her schedule and the workings of her
office so she would be clear as to why is she so busy and cannot take out
spare time. It also highlights the different scopes of work of the Infosys
foundation and how they manage to reply to all the requests for grants and
fundings
‘I can’t we can’ is the story where the author came to know about the
impressive organization of ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’. She attended their
meetings and totally loved their determination to reform their habit.
Writing style:
The stories are mostly warm and simple; and in turn, trigger slivers of
thought as she broaches the issues of alcoholism, conservatism,
exploitation and discrimination. From being a little girl to being a
grandmother, from being a naiveté to a professional achiever, she
chronicles her trials and travails, and offers advice, sometimes way too
bluntly and sometimes, in garbs of conversation. One is likely to learn
something new, like the origin of indigenous vegetables, and frown at her
firm assumptions, especially in relation to long-standing traditions and
religious tenets. The writing, though, aids the reading and the unvarnished
prose tempted me to finish this book in one go. A good read, with plenty to
chew and some humor to ease the occasional tension.