Greatest Folk Tales of Bihar by Nalin Verma

Greatest Folk Tales of Bihar by Nalin Verma
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A wonderful collection of folklore stories from Bihar. The one story that stands out in my mind is "Andher Nagari ...". It is about a stupid king who ends up hanging himself up. This is because, this is a story that my father used to tell us when we were children and somehow I still remember it after all these years (at least 40+ years). He possibly heard this story as he himself was born and brought up in Jamshedpur.

The author has tried to create a moral for each story. This may or may not have been the reason behind the story, but nevertheless it is worth reading them. It highlights the simplicity of the people who would have recited these stories and those that would have been entertained by them. It is nice to wear the shoes of simplicity when reading the book.

A good read and more importantly it is a good collection so that these stories are not lost to the posterity.

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The Edge of Desire by Tuhin A. Sinha

The Edge of Desire by Tuhin A. Sinha
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Based on the rape of a woman in Bihar. The protagonist gets married after catching her live-in partner in an intimate position with her girl-friend. She leaves her career in journalism and joins her IAS husband who is posted in a remote district of Bihar. The caste politics has just peaked in Bihar and a person called Salim Yadav, having the right caste and religion has become a menace in the district.
She tries to prevent his cohorts from raping a mentally retarded girl in public. Her husband tries to disband his extortion network by conducting raids and having him arrested. In turn, he and three of his cohorts rape her at the first opportunity that comes his way.
This is a turning point in her life and she starts fighting back. Her husband supports her first, but soon starts suspecting her. He ex-boyfriend who is now a journalist creates more trouble her by raising doubts about her morality.
She embraces politics to fight her battle, at the suggestion of a political leader who becomes her mentor in the political world.
The book continues on how she goes on to fight different battles both in her personal front and on the political front.
Hope more such women with guts come up to fight the prejudice that exists in our country.
A decent read.

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