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Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes by Betsy Woodman is an excellent read, due to likeable characters, lots of happenings, and a delightfully light touch.
Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes by Betsy Woodman
Review by Unmana Datta
I picked up this book with some trepidation – a middle-aged Anglo-Indian woman with a pet parrot moving to a small hill town and setting herself up as a fortune-teller to help save the town from destruction? It seemed at the same time somewhat predictable, wildly improbable, and ripe for stereotyping. I’m happy to say none of my expectations were met!
Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes was instead a rollicking read inspite of all the somewhat predictable and melodramatic elements – a white woman who loves India (and is, of course, the hero of the day), a villainous police commissioner who is quite a caricature, an orphan (foundling/waif: take your pick) rescued by the heroine, the plotted destruction of the town and the even more improbable plot hatched by a couple of local citizens to save it, and even hidden treasures.
But it works – mostly because the characters are portrayed with deft strokes that make them come alive. Jana quickly won me over with her love of adventure and her sense of humour – even her love of having her fortune read seemed more an eccentric foible than a lack of judgement. Mary, the devoted South Indian maid, is a stereotype no doubt, but is likeable nonetheless. Feroze, the local tailor, has a loving heart under his correct demeanour. But most enjoyable, perhaps, is the portrait of Commissioner Bandhu, paradoxically named, for he is a friend to no one and is universally disliked. He is also uniformly evil: a thorough bully who’s an abusive husband and parent and equally abusive of the powers of his office.
The small-town setting, the characters and their gossiping interest in each others’ lives, reminded me a little of Ruskin Bond, Alexander McCall Smith and Agatha Christie. But the author has something original all of her own.
Even the absurd ease with which all problems resolve themselves at the end somewhat works because of the author’s delightfully light touch. It is a book full of good humour, both in terms of being funny and in the attitude of the characters. Janet Laird – the Jana Bibi of the title – is met with so much neighbourliness and courtesy in her newly adopted hometown of Hamara Nagar that it made me want to move, or at least spend a summer, there. Too bad it’s fictional.
Publishers: Random House India.
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Unmana is interested in gender, literature and relationships, and writes about everything she's interested in. She lives in, and loves, Bombay. read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
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14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
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