Friday, August 16, 2013

The Female Ward by Debalina Haldar



Ragging at its most harmless is embarrassing and silly, but at its worst, it attempts to prevent individual students from independent thinking, attempts, in fact, to eradicate freewill

Why I read this book?
I got this book with the LybraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.  I asked for it since the story seemed very touching, even more when I learnt it was based on a true story.

What's the book about?

The story is told from the point of view of Disahri, a young woman that was a student at a engineering school who, along with 2 of her friends, was accused of bullying (ragging) a girl to the point that she attempted suicide.  The story jumps from present to past, showing us her life in prison as well as her time at school.

What about the main character?

Dishari is a sweet character. She is very naive, or at least I read her that way. She was also ragged when she began school, since apparently this is a common practice, but she was determined not to repeat the things that were done to her in the past. I found some strength in her, albeit she is not necessarily a strong character, but I think this is due to her being very young. 

Final thoughts

I think this was a very nice first book. In my opinion it needs a bit more work on the dialogs so they flow better. I don't know if the situation in India is still like that, ragging wise, but I do know the situation for women is far from good. Is a very compelling book, which makes you think and feel for the characters from the very beginning. Best of lucks to Haldar in her writing carrier. 

We enter the world with fists closed and when we leave, our hands are open. He said I should make full use of the time given to me for my life.

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