Pure Sequence : A story of growing old,gracefully or otherwise

by Paro Anand

Pure Sequence is not a beginning, middle and end kind of novel, but rather a story of women in their twilight years; aglow with their past, learning to cherish their present and not worrying too much about the future. It is about the realities that confront us all, sooner or later. Those who leave their parents to lead their own lives; those whose own children are flying out of the nest; those who are forced into believing that their life is done behind them; to those who admire the strength and fortitude of their grandmothers.
Pure Sequence is about the quiet confidence of women growing old gracefully or otherwise, realizing that they are in yet another prime of their lives.

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Paro Anand is the author of 18 books for children and young adults, including plays, short stories, novellas and novels. She is also published in several anthologies and has written extensively on children’s literature in the country. She headed the National Centre for Children’s Literature, The National Book Trust, India, the apex body for children’s literature in India. As a part of her work here, she set up libraries and Readers’ Clubs in rural India and conducted training programs on the use of literature.

She is a World Record Holder, for helping over 3000 children make the World’s Longest Newspaper (850 meters long) in 11 Indian states in 13 languages. The concept behind the project was to give a voice to those children who do not have a platform and to empower young people to create their own literature.

Paro Anand has been awarded for her contribution to children’s literature by The Russian Centre for Science and Culture. Dr. Kalam, the President of India, honored her for her writings on Republic Day, 2007. She has represented the country at various forums internationally, including in the UK and France.

She is a performance storyteller and has performed her stories in many parts of India, UK, France and Switzerland. She runs a program, Literature in Action on the use of stories in the holistic development of young people. She was part of an Indo-Swedish workshop and has co-authored a book for teenagers with special needs, with a Swedish writer.

She has been a resource person with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, working with children impacted by terrorist, separatist violence in Kashmir. Coming out of her experiences, she has written No Guns At My Son’s Funeral, a book that has had extensive critical acclaim. The book was nominated onto the IBBY Honor List, 2006, as the best book for young people from India. It is currently being translated into Spanish and German and talks are on for basing a film on the book. The book is about a young boy, seduced into becoming a terrorist. A follow up novel, also based in Kashmir, entitled Weed is the story of the son of a terrorist and his struggle to find an alternate life to sustain himself and his family.

She was a writer-in-residence at the Woodstock School, Mussoorie, India where she worked on writing her first novel for adults.

Reviews

[sandhya · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are very few books about older women, especially in the Indian context, unless they are about these women being wives, grandmothers, care-givers, etc. Here is a book which sparkles with women characters in their 60s, who come forth with what THEY want from life, and in a very believable way. These could be women living in your own neighbourhood. While Paro Anand comes up with characters who belong to the part of India that she comes from, they could be any urban Indian women, anywhere in the subcontinent. A must read.

[Anupriya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This I can call it as “old chick-lit,” (!) as it is about four older women who have been friends since their school days. How they support each other when they have no one else to care for them. Pure Sequence is an interesting read for the position it takes on old age. Old characters usually end up pitiable or dead. But here, you want to be a part of Paro Anand’s old biddies. They are profane and naughty, and determined and spirited, and you want to grow old like them. :) A nice breezy short read.