The Scent of Happiness – R.Vatsala, Translated from Tamil by K. Srilata and Kaamya Sharma

Description

To find her place in the world, Prema must not only leave her abusive husband and bring up her daughter on her own, she must also fight oppression at the workplace and form strong friendships with other women. Her struggles begin at birth, right from the unequal treatment she receives at home vis-a-vis her older brother, the casual attitude of her family towards her education because she is a girl, and the various challenges she faces at school, college and later as a working woman.

This is equally a tale of hope, offering us new ways of being a woman and of re-thinking the self. It is a sharp critique of gender politics as it plays out both in the private, familial sphere as well as in the public sphere. Prema gives voice not just to her own story but also, by extension, to the stories of thousands of women of her generation, women who grew up in the heady years immediately following the formation of an independent Indian nation state. Embedded in the novel is the idea of freedom, both personal and political.