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Pink Sari Revolution: A Tale Of Women And Power In India (2014)

by Amana Fontanella-Khan(Favorite Author)

3.63 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0393349470 (ISBN13: 9780393349474)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

review 1: Pink Sari Revolution is the story of courageous, arrogant Sampat Pal, an uneducated Indian woman who has defied many societal expectations and inspired hundreds of women to stand up for themselves and each other. The book focuses primarily on Sampat’s attempts to rally her Pink Gang of women to come to the aid of Sheelu, a young woman who has been taken by force from a man she eloped with, forced to live in the home of the legislator who “rescued” her and raped her, and then was jailed after being falsely accused of stealing from the legislator. Although Sheelu’s story sounds scandalous and juicy, in fact, Sheelu herself is an undependable “character” in the book and it appears that the author did not get close enough to her to successfully translate her emotio... morens or motivations to the page. Similarly, although Sampat Pal is undeniably a forceful figure who has achieved justice for many people, her role in Sheelu’s situation is erratic and not always successful. Luckily, in between the focus on Sheelu, the author tells brief stories of Sampat’s other successes, including the ways in which she fought against attempts to control her and make her small. I found these to be the most interesting parts of the book. Sampat, while a fascinating “character,” is difficult to like: she is arrogant, brash, demeaning of others, and regularly employs bullying tactics to humiliate, threaten, embarrass, and literally beat her enemies. The only thing that allowed me to cheer her on is the fact that she represents the most downtrodden and powerless of India’s rural people and her enemies are relatively powerful, corrupt, and abusive politicians, police, and government officials. While the book itself wasn’t that well-written and the story failed to achieve a perfect plot-line, it was representative of life in some parts of India: chaotic, disorganized, and refusing to be tamed. It was a fantastic book club read because it generated excellent and rich discussion about not only Sampat and her violent, unorthodox tactics, but about the dynamic status of women in India, the cultural context of making change for women, the incongruities of Indian culture, and about the desires everyone has for autonomy and to live freely.
review 2: Not the provoking journalistic-style narrative I was hoping for. The book follows a specific series of events and fills out the specific details and issues of the Pink Gang and their leader as events develop. I was hoping for more of an issue-based organization of the book. I found the book not as provoking and informative as it could be, though I certainly did learn about the situation for women in India. less

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