People and societies have been conditioning females about how they should behave, what they should wear, where they should go, whom they should marry, and last but not least, who they should love. As much as stereotypes have restricted a women’s movement in a pragmatic world, they have sadly taken away the liberty of a feeling as natural as falling in love. What if they fell in love with the wrong person and destroyed their lives, what if they fell in love and that person left her, what if falling in love with that particular person is not up to the criteria that her family has mandated, what if she fell in love and made a fool out of herself letting her desires and physical needs satiated in name of love. Women have to love only when it’s fruitful, only when it gives them a direction, only when it takes them to a happy ending, only when it gives a wider picture of a family, they are not allowed, rather not encouraged to just love, freely, wildly, recklessly, and passionately, at least not as often as men are praised for doing so. What’s the impact of this you ask, females as in their nature to avoid the fight of asking for that wild freedom, start doing the next best possible thing they can; control themselves from falling in love too deep, that coming out of it wouldn’t be against the parameters defined for them.
Mishtu does the same, she refuses to fall in love, until she does, madly & deeply but with the wrong guy. Girl Talk is exactly what its name implies, it’s a fictional story of women from three generations, telling the cause and effects of falling in love from their perspectives. Sadly enough repercussions of girls who fell in love without any thoughts, recklessly, and deeply, and the ones who remained cautious, placed their foot one in front of the other, second thought each action remains the same. Now the author doesn’t victimize her characters, rather she bought out the wildest side of them with honesty. Chandramouli talks about the story of six women, who keep themselves first, even after being betrayed or used by men, women who are not scared of exploring the forbidden pleasures, rather they dive deep into it keeping in mind all the inevitable effects, because these women are ready to barter a long-term pleasure deprived life to a short term dream of satiation and divine. Yet as they move forward in life, the loss strikes and the longing begins, they all might’ve been ready for the inevitable losses while probing their femininity but the feeling of longing was not for which they were prepared, even if it was for the wrong guy.
Anuja’s writing never disappoints, she has an art of holding her readers attention from the very first page and keeping the same grip by the end, that too effortlessly. Unlike, her previous mythological works that I have read, this one was not for beginners, English is quite refined and the placement of words is very minute and keen so if one isn’t an avid reader, one will find it hard to maintain their interest in the book.
Six Women, Sedhuma, Kanmani, Valliamma, Messy, Her older Sister, and Mishtu, and their stories of love. There’s a subtle yet pictorial association between what these women know about love from their childhood, from their parents, and how it’s impacting their present relationships. Sedhuma ran away from her house to escape a forceful marriage, stayed at an ashram, got bored of that slow living, left the ashram, married that same person she denied to at first, became a mother, a widow, and started a life that will leave its mark on everyone around her. Kanmani, daughter of Sedhuma, is the opposite of her, she is timid, gets shrunk in her own, and is always in fear, but when she comes face to face with the biggest scare, she does what she never could and its consequence is what kick start the endless torment of Mishtu’s life, Kanmani’s daughter, Mishtu is repulsive of men from a very young age, she tries not to become and do everything girls around her are becoming or doing and yet when she fell for a married man, who was chivalrous and gentle and yet he left her hanging and yearning for him, Valliamma, she learned about the worth of her body through her father, who gets drunk and abuses her, she decided soon that she would put this body to use and make it worth, but when she decided to quit all that and start a life for herself, Sedhuma comes to her rescue, Messy is wild and free, Mishtu’s best friend, when she told about her affair with her brother-in-law Mishtu’s first instinct was to slap her out of it, but she can already sense the denialibity in Messy’s joyous voice, who was delusional to believe that he loves her more than her sister, Messy’s older sister, whose husband was cheating on her with her sister and acted smart enough to pretend loving her till the end. These sisters were if not conspiring then surely imagining the death of another so they could have the man to themselves, and while their wild thoughts remained thoughts someone else executed there’s and got rid of both.
To sum up, this book will make you gasp and deny in disbelief at times, but as a woman when I read through these pages, I concur with every thought of these characters. I am amazed at how the writer knows what is beneath the folds of women’s hearts, is it only because at the center we are all the same, or is it because we all face the same? Anuja’s characters don’t succumb to what is decided for them, as long as they are doing what they desire, they believe everything is legit. And that ultimate confidence in their feminine desire is what makes this book one of the favourite reads of this year.
Mansi Singh is 27 years old and completed her Master’s in Sociology in 2022. She has over 3 years of experience as a Content Writer but has now transitioned to being a Teacher and Public Speaker. Mansi works at Planet Spark and Kiya Learning, a virtual platform offering 1:1 sessions for students between grades 1-8. Reading has been an integral part of her life for as long as she can remember. She loves to read, learn new things, gain new information, build new perspectives, reflect, and immerse herself in the art of words. Mansi enjoys parks, long walks, tall trees, and blue skies. She is particularly fond of clouds and colors.
Find her on: Website – Instagram – Youtube
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