On 19th January 2015 ; 6:15 pm, US Library, Poona Club

Sita’s Sister by Kavita Kane

Urmila of Ramayana, wife of Lakshman and one of the sisters of Sita, is the most overlooked character of the epic. Without the support of Urmila, Lakshman could have never killed Indrajit, the most formidable warrior of the Ravana’s army and his favorite son. She is the only one who stays away from her husband for 14 years.

But Urmila cannot be ignored any more as Kavita Kane‘s next book Sita’s Sister is about Urmila and Ramayana from her point of view. The book is expected to be released by December, 2014.

Synopsis:

As Sita prepares to go into exile, her younger sisters stay back at the doomed palace of Ayodhya, their smiles, hope and joy wiped away in a single stroke. And through the tears and the tragedy one woman of immense strength and conviction stands apart – Urmila, whose husband, Lakshman, has chosen to accompany his brother Ram to the forest rather than stay with his bride. She could have insisted on joining Lakshman, as did Sita with Ram. But she did not. Why did she agree to be left behind in the palace, waiting for her husband for fourteen painfully long years?

Meeting on January 19th, 2015

THE BOOK CLUB

will meet on

MONDAY 19th January 2015

at 6.15 pm

at the U S Library, Poona Club

to discuss

Sita’s Sister

by 

Kavita Kane

Sharon Edwards at The Book Club on 5th January '15

Pioneer Boulevard presented by it's author Sharon Edwards

Serendipitous, it seemed, Sharon Edwards herself graced The Book Club on 5^th January 2014  to read from Pioneer Boulevard. The author referred to the book to share her background, education and travel sojourn and the description in the ten stories left the audience wanting to ask her more.

The ten stories in Pioneer Boulevard, named for the Artesia, CA street that is known as Little India, are set in the Indian community of Los Angeles. Most of the protagonists are, like the author, women who have migrated to LA from India, but the book is populated with characters from other countries, including Mexico, El Salvador, Vietnam, Pakistan, and England. 

Set in the context of the recent economic crisis, the sense of an overstretched, underfinanced world pervades these narratives. One woman must clinch the job that will sponsor her work permit; another has to sell her wedding necklace to pay the bills. A third learns about an unplanned pregnancy days after her husband has received notice of an impending layoff. 

Farcical and somber, wry and tender, these stories draw us into the chaotic, comic world of the pioneer, where habits of consumption and ways of relating—and even of speaking—are constantly in flux.

Post the reading, she succinctly answered all the questions coming from the listeners bringing forth the mentality of the immigrants, the perception of the Americans, the undertones of a sense of belonging to a nation, patriotism via experiences of Indians in America. A few comparisons made with writing by Jhumpa Lahiri, Sharon Edwards spoke of her voice in the book as her take, yet not making it seem autobiographical.

Reported by Seema Chinchore