While reading
the last few lines of Ants among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the
Making of Modern India by Sujatha Gidla, readers would surely overcome by a
mixture of emotions. Chief amongst them was a deep sorrow.
The book is a
memoir that details the author's family history, with her uncle Sathyamurthy
looming large over everything. One of the leaders of the Communist and Naxalite
movements in Andhra, he is the primary mover and shaker of most events.
But what reached
out to readers more was the story of her mother Manjula. Rising like a phoenix
again and again from the pits of poverty, politics, and patriarchy, she is the
epitome of all the things a woman fights for in this country.
Many insights
into the turmoil of Andhra and Telangana, the abject poverty and hopelessness
of so many people that people turn a blind eye to, the pitiless monster of
caste that devours without mercy, the bravery and relentless struggle for the
basic right to live with dignity. All this leaves one uncomfortably aware of
how much of a cocoon people live in.
It is indeed
creditable that the author manages to present such personal material as a
fairly balanced narrative. It seems all the more relevant in the vituperative
times of today. Irrespective of personal philosophies, it is an eye-opener, and
food for thought.
Excellent
writing and very incisive and nuanced look at one family’s mobility from lower
middle-class or poor to rich with all the attendant questions. What does money
really bring? How much is too much?
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