Tell me a story

by Rupa Bajwa

Set partly in the small, buzzing town of Amritsar and partly in New Delhi, this is the story of Rani, a young woman in contemporary India. She enjoys her work in a local beauty parlour though her lower middle-class family lives in a state of constant struggle to make ends meet, to hang on to their dreams, to keep their fragile lives from collapsing. As their financial troubles escalate, so do Rani s sister-in-law s taunts, brother s frustration and father s resignation. Random events happen that affect each of them, changing their lives forever. Tell Me A Story displays remarkable clarity and depth in drawing up the real semi- urban living in India. Fragile and touching, it reminds us of how thin, tenuous are the connections which bind us to our illusory, sane-seeming lives.

Genres: Fiction, India

214 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2012

Reviews

[Sudipta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple story about the quite tragedies that life brings with it and the inevitable changes that accompany those tragedies. A sedate, observant tale narrated with tremendous honesty and clarity, it resonated with the fatalist in me. The character of Rani was one I understood and the journey of her loss of innocence spoke to me....that is the biggest strength of this book, which avoids the pitfalls of pretensions and stays true to its character's tale.
While not a highly literary work, I recommend the book for its clarity of vision and honesty to its story.

[Sunaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this from a sweet friend and couldn't put it down reading it after 4 years. Suffering is a universal human condition transcending class and creed and everything. Despite the difference in our classes, I still could empathize with the way Rani dealt with mundane sadness and loss happening in her life. Her losses are very much mundane, happening at absolutely odd times, without any warning, and it just never stops. Her life is only one of the millions that suffers through the same yet different kind of mundane losses. Money acts as a great cushion to life's major sorrows. And there is a huge populace that does not have access to this cushion either. Rani's tale is one of them. Set between the contrasting cities of Amritsar and Delhi, we see the world through Rani's lens, her routine, her little happinesses. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through it. The story did not particularly end on a light note, yet we know that Rani will somehow be able to deal with the meaninglessness and the void.

[Shailee Dixit Savalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A routine life of a girl belonging to Lower socio economic status who works at a beauty parlour is portrayed really well. Her life story, hopes, aspirations, losses, tragedies, change in trajectory of her life path, are so well drawn that it feels like having witnessed it all.
The characters built around her: bhabhi, brother, father, nephew, Asha etc .. are beautifully carved.
The friendship she shares with her neighbor in homeland and her boss at Delhi are so sweet, warm and lifelike in her otherwise arid life.
The stories she makes and shares at school as a child, at home as masi and with her boss at Delhi shows an intellect u revealed to the world.
Sad but hopeful story, very well written.

[Roopinder Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rich and the poor live alongside each other in India. So do they in Rupa Bajwa’s book. She is candid and compassionate. The author who won the XXIV Grinzane Cavour Prize for best first novel in June 2005, the Commonwealth Award in 2005 and Sahitya Akademi Award in 2006, has given her readers another novel, one that has stories that reflect the chaos of life.

For a longer review, please click here:
http://www.roopinder.com/when-amritsa...

[Rusin Mishra]

Well the byline of the novel should have been "A tale of loss,hope and loss"!

[mystrollingsoul Vaishali Gururani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a special place in my heart because of the way it's written it doesn't screams for your attention rather quietly settles in your heart. Once you'll get in the journey you'll feel like it's a part of you.
It's written by Rupa Bajwa, an award winning writer.

This book is about a girl 'Rani' and is set partly in Amritsar and partly in Delhi.
It's the story of all the girls who always want to stay as their daddy's little girl but life's too cruel which doesn't lets us to do that.
The same happens with her, she loves her job in a small beauty parlor and has big dreams, she's a big fan of Shahrukh Khan has all his posters and newspaper cutting.
She has a elder brother who's married and has a son and they all live under the same roof with their father, belonging to a lower middle class family they all struggle with financial crisis. But Rani still deals with it happily.
The problem starts arising when the roof starts leaking and they are already under debts with little money in pocket, her brother tries so hard to keep his wife happy but she always finds a way to taunt him.
What started as a happy story with Rani and his cute nephew and their bed time stories ends up into a crisis.
It's about how Rani deals with that, ending up all alone in Delhi, finding a way to survive, how independence makes her a new Rani.

[aman caur · Rating 1 out of 5]

The second half of the novel is thin and abrupt, somewhat like Rani's stories. The juxtaposition of two women from different social backgrounds but similar sensibilities doesn't make the story more subtle and layered, if that was the idea. The last 50 pages of this book almost seemed like it belonged to another story.

[Manoj Kakran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simple story and quite hope and lots of loss.

[Anuradha Goyal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Journey of a small town girl to a big city http://www.anureviews.com/tell-me-a-s...

[Ravneet Arora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly refreshing and different... couldn't put down until I'd finished it!!!

[Dani Saxena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished this amazing novel over a span of two days because it was so addictive! It follows the story of Rani, a young lower middle class girl who faces many family problems and existential crises in her early 20s. I haven’t read a novel with a main character being similarly aged to me in a long time, so I truly appreciated and related with her inner dialogues relating to what her life holds, what love means, and how to best cherish the people around you when time seems to be slipping out of your hands. Overall, I think it’s always amazing to read Indian authors, with how well they capture the intricacies of life in India. The novel tackles corrupt politics, internalised racism, poverty, religion, caste system, and the significance of family, all through following the life of Rani. The novel also reveals the dynamics between the maids and the homeowners of upper middle class society, a struggle I often find myself in as well. Overall, without being a crime novel or having an enthralling plot line, the novel managed to hook me in with its simplistic narrative, allowing me to gain insight into how different life is for someone like Rani.

[booksaddict.akshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a story of a young girl Rupa who works in a beauty parlor in Amritsar. I relate to the surroundings and culture as I belong to this city. Partially set up in Delhi. Rupa's struggles of life, her attachment with her father and nephew Bittu and her confidence to take the reins of her life in her hand and survive the brutal reality made this book unputdownable. It's a highly emotional story and in some places it's disturbing and it's ended with the expectation of something good happening to this young woman.

[Baljit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this 3.5 stars. As with her previous novel, Rupa Bajwa weaves a story around ordinary people with trials of the daily grind. People are enmeshed in familiar routines due to lack of resources and opportunities but they try to find pleasures in simple things. Tragedy forces the central character to make changes and move out of a comfort zone and to face new challenges.

[Ugyen Chophel · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was beautiful simple story about Indian girl which adds meaning of what we have.

[Prachi Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mild read. Easy language and details of daily life. But personally you would find hard to keep the grip on. Seems like everyone is sad all throughout.

[Kulpreet Yadav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though the plot is interesting, sadly, the narrative never rises above the mundane. It merely serves to describe errands, or at best, odd frustrations and resentments. I am not sure if that was the intention, because if it was, it has been achieved rather well.

I like small town stories. The lives are interconnected, in a manner, that the overlaps are deeper, the colours brighter, and the conflicts more meaningful.

Rani, I thought, could have had a stronger conflict. It saddened me to read about her, but the upheavals in her life, I got the impression as I read, were characteristically common. I thought she needed more character, and stronger ways of going about solving it. I also found that her life in Delhi was hurried and less moving to read, as compared to the first half that was set in Amritsar. The introduction of Sadhna and Vini after nearly sixty percent of the book had finished also diluted the character of Rani.

Overall, an above average book.

[Tanay Joshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate this book and recommend to all my fellow friends to read it. Many of us should learn the value of money, breaking comfort zone and true to ourselves. Rani is true hero when as she is honest in Sadhna's place as servant and not stealing any stuff in her house. Dheeraj Kumar her father's character shows how keen should we look at our savings so it could help in our old age. I really love character of Bittu portrayed by Rupa Bajwa, it gives glimpses of many of my cousins in our fmaily. Tragedy then success by getting out of comfort zone, is shown well in this book. Maturity of 9th std educated girl and her world is well written. Good characterization. Good book to read.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple story,the narrative is interesting. Though many a times I read stories of this sort some how I felt the second half of the story makes the reader hook to the book. What I liked about the book story telling skill of Rani. I enjoyed the stories that Rani tells in the book. Good reading.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very harsh description of the reality of our society. Touching, thought provoking and emotional. You can feel what the characters feel. Shows you the cruelty and truth of life. If you are looking for a happy ending, then this book is not for you.

[Bindu Manoj · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story of ordinary people, without the pretensions of today's writers and their characters. Seemed to be a bit autobiographical, but then that is just my feeling :)

[Shivani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story of a girl living in Amritsar and her experiences with life. Its a good read but was expecting more out of the story.

[Fun]

Simple, easy to read, entertaining story which takes place in India.