Book Review: The Dollar Bahu by Sudha Murthy

 A month back I was going out of town for a short business trip. I figured that it will be good to have a couple of books with me to kill time on those treacherous long flights and in those boring, conventional hotel rooms (why do all of them have yellow lights ? and why exactly the same layout ?) With these thoughts in mind, I entered a book stall near the Forum mall in Koramangala area. I happened to lay my hands on a book by Sudha Murthy called "The Dollar Bahu". The title of the book and the short summary provided at the back was tantalising but more than that, it was the author that really got my attention. I had heard and read a lot about Sudha Murthy. For the uninitiated, Sudha Murthy is the wife of Narayana Murthy, founder CEO of Infosys and a truly visionary tech leader. Sudha does a lot of social work through the Infosys foundation and has several short stories to her credit. More importantly though, the life stories of Sudha and Narayana Murthy have become the stuff of legend and has been a huge source of inspiration for the Indian middle class.

The book itself is short; of 150 odd pages, which meant that the book was done in a couple of short seatings. But what a disappointment. The book deals with an Indian family whose elder son has gone to US seeking greener pastures whereas the younger son has taken up a job at home since his education background does not match with the opportunities available in US. Trouble erupts when the wife of younger son is constantly compared with the elder bahu, who has earned the tag "Dollar Bahu" for the green bucks that her husband earns. Constantly derided, the younger bahu feels isolated, lonely and depressed. But things take a turn when the mother-in-law visits US with heavenly expectations; only to find that US is not quite what she had expected and all said and done, India is where she belongs.

This ofcourse is something that the NRIs can instantly relate to; and this is why I found the book tantalising when I first saw it. But the problem is that the book is full of cliches. The various incidents that it describes are all too familiar, too typical. And the author merely scratches the surface for such issues; without bothering to delve deep for any of the various issues that have been highlighted in the book. Surely, I expected more from such an acclaimed author who is known to be of high intellect. She had a great opportunity to go beyond the cliche; to do a more objective comparison between Indian and US lifestyle but she squanders it. The whole India/US debate has so many layers; and a discussion on this can literally go on for hours together. Infact I have observed that such discussions become very heated and people get very touchy about their views. As an individual who has relocated to India after 11 years in US, this is something that I can definitely vouch for. The only thing with which the author can be credited is that she does not take any side; does not pronounce a verdict. She presents both the lifestyle to readers and leaves it at that. A comment made by one of the protagonist near the end of the book sums it up "It is pointless to try and have an Indian lifestyle in US and viceversa. It is a futile attempt and just does not work. Everything in life comes as a package; with its share of bouquets and brickbats. The key to remaining happy is to embrace whichever country u are living in." 

I still have high regard for the author, though. This was probably just a blip from her side. I look forward to picking up another of her books and have a better reading experience. But this time (as a good friend of mine pointed out), I will make sure that I check out the book reviews before stepping into the book stall.