Gently Falls the Bakulas – Reality narrated in black and white!

Though this book was written 30 years ago, it holds perfectly true and realistic to anyone who reads it today and probably in the future also. I bought the book for the simple reason that it was from my favorite author and role model Sudha Murthy. Eventually, when I started reading it, I truly valued the 150 bucks I spent on it. Not sure if it were a true life incident or an imaginary narration foreseeing the future generations. But to be honest, it did create a difference in my life personally. My outlook towards Indian women changed dramatically. India, as a country has started respecting women in different forums and ways. But when we get into the granularity of a family, it is indeed to be accepted that women are still treated secondary in most cases, while there are a of course a few exceptions because of which we see powerful women emerging out. This was a simple story about a calm and intelligent girl Shrimathi who outshines her classmate Shrikanth in her board exams. She turns out to be a state topper, which comes down as a shock to Shrikanth. He understands the fact that he has a soft corner for her and eventually realizes that the rest of his life is going to be with her. They get married happily and Shrikanth climbs to the pinnacle of his career in a very short time. Shrimathi starts sacrificing her ambitions at every stage of her life for the sake of Shrikanth or his family and is finally left in a state of desolation. She realizes that she has only donned the role of a CEO’s wife and nothing beyond that. She understands that she has her own interests and decides to pursue them finally after a huge amount of self introspection and emotional trauma.
In a gist, what every man and woman, who get into married life understand is, each of the partner needs their own personal space to pursue their dreams with your support. Your spouse is your better half and you need to treat their emotions and ambitions royally. If you cannot contribute to them, at least sit back and enjoy watching them do it. Life is never a one-sided game where only the male partner wins or female partner wins. Only if the two can complement each other, their life will become a rose-bed, else it will be a thorn-bed killing both of them.