Sonal Singh On Sonal's Table
An anthology of 16 short, women-centric stories that resonate with resilience and an unbreakable spirit. Even though the stories are woven with grief, loss, love, oppression, injustice… all towards women; there’s also a silken (barely visible and yet innately felt) thread of hope that runs through them. I connected deeply to that.
The book left me with lingering questions—why do women have to prove themselves over and over? Why is equality such a hard concept to grasp? Why is self-empowerment not supported?
In a patriarchal, mostly misogynistic society, women, metaphorically, have to push hard to break glass ceilings. But in order to do that, they first need the courage to step over the threshold of their own four walls. The safety of the door, latched from inside the home, is also what shackles them within a prison of their own creation. And yet, most cannot identify it as a prison. They call it their haven. Sad indeed!
Shalini’s stories focus attention on self-development, courage, acts of extraordinary resilience, a mother’s love, gender neutrality and equality, and overcoming the psychological imprint of society’s perception of how a woman should behave and what her place in society is. The book is fictional, but the characters are relatable; their pain is raw; their minor acts of bravery feel like personal victories.
Shalini writes in an easy-going, fuss free style, which makes the narratives flow linearly with no layered complexity. Most stories have a past life and present life connection, in keeping with the inherent theme of the book. She highlights how women can truly be unstoppable.
