Book review - Lost and found in Banaras by Mona Verma
On the eve of Women’s Day, as I turned the last page of my second read (1st- Daivya Sutras ) from the author Mona Verma, my heart ached for the girls and women who had to endure the piercing pain of being tagged as “manhus” as they become child widows trapped in a fate they never chose. Yet, alongside this sorrow, another feeling of pride rose for those who dared to resist. For the women who questioned, who spoke, who broke, who walked away from the suffocating grip of this cruel tradition. For the ones who took the first trembling step so that others could one day run. The story is begins with the three-year-old Brinda is widowed after being married for a few hours, her family refuses to take her back in. Deemed ‘munhoos’, she finds her way to Nirmala Ashram in Banaras where she leads a life of child widow under the watchful eye of Vasanti Bua and her friend, Debi. It is also a tale of a promise kept by the brother of Brinda, Jhulan. The story begins with a flood, a...
