Skip to main content

Chup - Deepa Narayan - Book Review


Recently finished reading Deepa Narayan's book on women in India and the way society is sculpting their identity. The book is an intriguing read and does live up to its slogan to hold a mirror to every Indian women.



So is this a feminist read meant for those all women book club list readings? Definitely not. Such books are meant to be read by the entire society irrespective of gender or age.



The book raises questions on what it means to be a woman in Indian society.
Do you pride yourself on being a strong woman? Do you aspire to be one or support one? Do you consider yourself a feminist? This book goes beyond the whole women empowerment and feminism debate to ask some real questions.

In this well researched book, based on 600 detailed interviews with women and men across India's metros and even cities abroad,  social scientist Deepa Narayan has covered seven key habits that may influence women's everyday lives, despite their education, success, financial status and family background. These behaviors may seem harmless, but each one has enormous impact, and it means only one thing - that Indian women are trained to habitually delete themselves.

Indeed, as I read the book and the excerpts of the interviews, it feels that the reality is for all of us to see but we refuse to admit it. We stay silent or chup as the the book title states. In fact, as I have read about similar patterns in different parts of the World, both developing and developed, I can say that this book has a universal appeal to it. The psychology is similar everywhere.

However, "Chup" has its limitations. One significant oversight is its lack of discussion on the misuse of laws designed to protect women. The rise of false accusations, particularly in cases of rape, BNS and dowry, is a serious issue that impacts many men. These false claims can devastate careers, reputations, and lives, highlighting a dark side to the progress made in women's rights. While Narayan’s focus is on the systemic silencing of women, a more balanced examination of the complexities surrounding gender dynamics would have enriched the discourse.
Price - INR 699
Genre - Non - Fiction
Pages - 304
Edition - Hard cover
Publisher - Juggernaut 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Also read

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Why does Mrs Dalloway still speak to you after a hundred years? A human reading of Virginia Woolf’s novel A reflective and thoughtful review of Mrs Dalloway that explores why Virginia Woolf’s modernist classic continues to resonate. From memory and mental health to love, regret, and time, this article examines characters, themes, context, and craft while questioning whether the novel still challenges and comforts today’s reader. Why does a novel about one ordinary day linger in your mind for years? This long form review of Mrs Dalloway explores through its quiet power. You will find analysis, critique, history, and personal reflection on why this book continues to unsettle and comfort readers alike. Can a single ordinary day hold an entire life? Have you ever reached the end of a day and wondered where it went, and more unsettlingly, where you went within it? That question sits at the heart of Mrs Dalloway , Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel that dares to suggest that the smallest moment...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spill the Tea: Noor and the Silence After Doing Everything right

Noor has done everything she was supposed to do — moved out, built a life, stayed independent. Yet beneath the neat routines and functional success lies a quiet emptiness she cannot name. Part of the Spill the Tea series, this story explores high-functioning loneliness, emotional flatness, and the unsettling fear of living a life that looks complete from the outside. The verandah was brighter than Noor expected. Morning light lay flat across the tiles, showing every faint scuff mark, every water stain from old monsoons. The air smelled of detergent from a neighbour’s washed curtains flapping overhead. On the table, the paneer patties waited in a cardboard bakery box I’d emptied onto a plate. A squeeze bottle of ketchup stood beside it, slightly sticky around the cap. Two cups of tea, steam already thinning. In one corner, a bamboo palm stood in a large terracotta planter. Thin stems. Too many leaves. Trying very hard to look like it belonged indoors. Noor sat down and pulled the chair ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why do we crave bookshops when life falls apart? A deep reading of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

This article reflects on Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum, a gentle novel about burnout, healing, and second chances. Through Yeong-ju and her quiet community, the book reminds you that meaning often returns slowly, through books, people, and ordinary days that begin to feel like home again. Why do so many of us secretly dream of walking away from everything? At some point, usually on a crowded weekday morning or during yet another meeting that could have been an email, you wonder if this is all there is. You did what you were told. You studied, worked hard, built a career, stayed responsible. And yet, instead of contentment, there is exhaustion. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop begins exactly at this uncomfortable truth. Hwang Bo-reum’s novel does not shout its intentions. It does not promise transformation through grand revelations. Instead, it sits beside you quietly and asks a gentler question. What if the problem is not that you failed, but that you nev...
Post a Comment
Read more