Skip to main content

Book Review: Just Be There by Gayatri Shankar

Just Be There by Gayatri Shankar is a riveting contemporary family fiction. One has no control over vagaries of life, things happen that are destined to go that way. However, amidst all heat and chaos, an individual, no matter what age s/he is at, seeks support and acceptance without prejudice. Once a renowned personality said that in life only two things matter most for happiness – family and career. 

This is a simple story of some simple people who believe in family bonding throughout all phases; however, like millions of other families on the earth, they do have their own share of pain and suffering. Their small day-to-day struggles and hesitations sow the seeds of distrust and keep them distanced from each other.


In the family Abhay Singh is the senior most people, followed by a couple Vikram and his wife Anjali. They silently live in Mumbai. Around a year back, the family was in high spirits and doing quite good. But the premature demise of Sandhya leaves them bereaved of love and the family rhythm is broken. Who was Sandhya? She was the wife of Abhay Singh. Mother of Vikram and mother-in-law of Anjali.

Since her demise, Abhay leaves teaching at a college and distances himself from the closed ones and the immediate society. Sort of, he is plunged into an abyss of solitude and loneliness. Even his son Vikram and daughter-in-law Anjali are sad about his status; often they feel miserable against his plight. Emotionally, Abhay Singh is draining, leave alone depression. Well, as life is not just unfair all the time. One of his students Ajay introduces him to Shivani – a terrific yoga teacher and sort of a soul healer. She did all possible tasks to bring the best from Abhay and with time their familiarity and bonding grows…but is it just a company or they both looking to be roped in for marriage or living together? There could be questions and allegations, as we all know that society questions everyone, every move. The complete story can be gauged by only getting into the novel completely. Will Abhay’s life change here onwards? Or there is something that is still awaiting his attention? Will he be able to do something good and positive for the society or home he is part of?

This novel has been forefront in addressing the issues that nowadays many families face, especially with some elder person sharing the space. Happiness matters – but it doesn’t come quite smoothly and simply. To set the overall ambience of a home, one needs to create the environment of support and acceptance. These are the basic pillars of any family or home. Love blooms on these aspects. In fact, the complete novel has been built on support and acceptance. Gayatri’s prowess as an author is superb; it’s an engaging read because one can relate to it. If you’re looking for a book to warm your heart, definitely pick this one.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

Among all Ruskin Bond books, The Blue Umbrella has, so far, gathered immense applaud from readers and critics alike.  This is a short novel, but the kind of moral lessons it teaches to us are simply overwhelming. This is a story of Binya, a poor little girl living with her mother and an elder brother, Bijju, in a small hilly village of Garhwal. One day while herding her two cows back home, she stumbles upon some city people enjoying the picnic in the valley. She is enthralled to see them well-groomed and rich. She craves to be one like them and among many other things of their, a blue frilly umbrella catches her attention. She begins craving for it. On the other hand, the city people get attracted by her innocent beauty and the pendant in her neck. The pendant consists of leopard’s claw – which is considered a mascot widely in the hills. Binya trades her pendant off with the blue umbrella. The blue umbrella is so much beautiful that soon it becomes a topic of conversatio...
65 comments
Read more

Poem Summary: Where The Mind Is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore

Poem by Rabindranath Tagore: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Short Summary: This poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore during pre-independence days, when India was a colony of the British. The underlying theme of the poem is absolute freedom; the poet wants the citizens of his country to be living in a free state. According to the poem, we see that the poet is expressing his views there should be a country, like where people live without any sort of fear and with pure dignity…they should ...
68 comments
Read more

Character Sketch of Binya from ‘The Blue Umbrella’ by Ruskin Bond

The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond is a popular children’s story. It features Binya as the main character, though there are other important characters as well, but the story revolves around Binya and her little beautiful umbrella. The story is widely popular among children, thus it has also been included in the schools’ syllabus all across the country. Since it is often taught in the school, thus the character sketch of Binya is often demanded by students from year to year. Character Sketch of Binya from The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond Binya is the main character of the novel ‘The Blue Umbrella’ by Ruskin Bond. Her full name is Binyadevi. As in the hills or anywhere in India it is a kind of trend to call children with their short nicknames. Binya’s elder brother’s name is Bijju, whereas his real name is Vijay. Binya aged eleven is a hilly girl. She lives with her small family in the hills of Garhwal. Her father died when she was two years of age. For sustenance, the...
41 comments
Read more