Dear friends,
It is rather uncommon when I post something besides poetry and share it with all of you.
But a dear friend Rachna co authors a book and sends a copy to read,its a wonderful gift and gesture to be acknowledged. So here is something about the book and the authors :
AUTHORS:
RACHNA ARORA: A Psychologist, author, writer, blogger, poet and provides online professional counselling services to women.
DEEPIKA SHARMA: A post graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication,an author, writer, blogger who feels strongly about the issues that plague married urban women in India.
THE BOOK:
Indian Women and The Shaadi Conundrum! by Dr. Rachna Arora and Deepika Sharma is a simple book, on its face, but full of resounding depths: a reality of women in our society and offering hope that things will get better. A descriptive psychological reflection of beautifully narrated short real life extracts connecting to every woman, whether she is unmarried, married or just getting into the nuptial ties to realize her individuality and believe in her potential. It helps and enriches every woman with essential info that is required for happy married life.
This book talks about post-marital challenges a woman face, which are often sensitive issues and people generally avoid talking about them honestly. Almost every woman struggles with some kind of post-marital challenges but no one really brings up this topic to discussion openly. More power to the authors who have dared to write about this topic and portray a very realistic picture of our society which often makes the beautiful event of life i.e., marriage the most challenging event for almost all the women.
Authors have gone an extra mile to bring out the best of what can prevent the confusions and assumptions on marriage with a series of practical suggestions to help every woman in her life. The book gives a thoughtful insight on why it is important and essential for every woman to consider all the aspects of marriage and have a realistic approach towards it ‘before she says yes’. Quite often women ignore the many important things which give her a difficult time after marriage.
This book reflects a plethora of common situations, type of changes and problems faced by Indian woman pre and post marriage that every woman can relate with. Authors have given suggestions and advice that help a woman to cope up with all the changes and challenges and also helps a woman to maintain her individuality while maintaining her relationships with ease.
Authors have given various reasons and explained possible conflicts that may arise post-marriage and also the problems that woman may encounter, with the help of case studies and have suggested possible solutions to those problems.
Each chapter in the book gives an insight of the situations and changes that are likely to come with the event of marriage and how a woman can prepare herself mentally for the changes that are likely to come post-marriage. Practical tips and solutions for the common conflicts are also given in the book to help women.
Though this book is written and dedicated to all the women, it will be useful for husbands and in-laws to better understand what a woman expects. There is also a chapter that rationally describes the double standards of our society in differentiating between a man and woman. As you read this chapter, realization dawns upon the reader that how patriarchy, unconsciously affect our behaviour and actions, and due to this, even the majority of women have failed to understand the plight and problems of their counterparts.
As very aptly quoted by authors “The need of the hour is to introspect and analyse yourself to find out whether your behaviour and actions are unconsciously dictated by a patriarchal mindset and put conscious efforts to break away from the shackles of patriarchy.”
So if each one of us self-introspect our behavior and actions and be considerate for our women counterparts (as a sister, daughter, sister-in-law, mother, mother-in-law and Daughter in laws) most of the issues will never even arise.
Authors have reiterated at various places, the most important lesson that each one of us needs in life, is that Be Yourself, and do not succumb to the pressure of unreasonable demands of any kind. Authors have wonderfully described that seeking approval and acceptance from others will only make you feel helpless, sad, angry and unhappy and you cannot able to live life to the fullest. So you get drilled deep into married life, do not forget your real self. Authors have beautifully quoted in the book “Embrace yourself the way you are and empower yourself by knowing the true meaning of self-empowerment. Self-empowerment simply means that you are the master of your life and your life is in your control.”
I would recommend this book to every woman to read, as it will be very helpful in understanding and coping up with all the Shaadi conundrum and empowers you to positively and effectively deal with issues pre and post marriage. This book will help you to take control of your life and enables you to become truly empowered and transformed you completely for betterment.
Besides this , they have started a wonderful initiative of THE HAPPY WOMEN , a platform where women who encourage, inspire and motivate come together and share . http://thehappywomen.com/
Lets join together and lend them a hand of support in their initiative as well as to their book.
soumyav 