Ladies Coupe

by Anita Nair

Meet Akhilandeswari, Akhila for short: forty-five and single, an income-tax clerk, and a woman who has never been allowed to live her own life - always the daughter, the sister, the aunt, the provider. Until the day she gets herself a one-way ticket to the seaside town of Kanyakumari. In the intimate atmosphere of the all-women sleeping car - the 'Ladies Coupe' - Akhila asks the five women she is travelling with the question that has been haunting her all her adult life: can a woman stay single and be happy, or does she need a man to feel complete?

This wonderfully atmospheric, deliciously warm novel takes the reader into the heart of women's lives in contemporary India, revealing how the dilemmas that women face in their relationships with husbands, mothers, friends, employers and children are the same the world over.

Genres: India, Fiction, Indian Literature, Asia, Contemporary, Feminism, Literary Fiction

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Anita Nair is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of the novels The Better Man, Ladies Coupé, Mistress, Lessons in Forgetting, Idris: Keeper of the Light and Alphabet Soup for Lovers. She has also authored a crime series featuring Inspector Gowda.

Anita Nair’s other books include a collection of poems titled Malabar Mind, a collection of essays titled Goodnight & God Bless and six books for children. Anita Nair has also written two plays and the screenplay for the movie adaptation of her novel Lessons in Forgetting which was part of the Indian Panorama at IFFI 2012 and won the National Film Award in 2013. Among other awards, she was also given the Central Sahitya Akademi award and the Crossword Prize. Her books have been translated into over thirty one languages around the world. She is also the founder of the creative writing and mentorship program Anita’s Attic.

Reviews

[leti lo yeti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sono venuta a sapere dell'esistenza di questo romanzo grazie a un corso di letteratura inglese che ho frequentato all'università. Durante il corso, avevo letto alcuni capitoli incentrati sulla protagonista Akhila, che mi erano piaciuti davvero tanto. Ma la mia voglia non era stata soddisfatta: ero curiosa di conoscere la storia delle altre donne, e per questo sono stata davvero molto contenta di avere letto il libro nella sua interezza. Lo consiglio, soprattutto se si è interessatə alla condizione delle donne nel mondo. Lo stile è così piacevole, i personaggi così reali e le atmosfere così coinvolgenti, che è davvero difficile staccarsi dalle pagine.
Solita nota negativa all'edizione italiana (attenzione, nelle prossime righe troverete degli spoiler): avrei preferito una copertina che rimandasse alle atmosfere indiane, e che lo stupro subìto da Marikolanthu non venisse definito "una notte di lussuria" nella quarta di copertina, descrizione che trovo vergognosa.

[Viktorija| Laisvalaikis su knyga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tai kūrinys apie skirtingas moteris, jų patirtis, skaudulius, patirusias tokias neteisybes.... O dar joms tenka gyventi visuomenėje ir pabandyk nesilaikyti tos visuomenės primestų normų, kad pavyzdžiui, atėjus atitinkam amžiui tau artimieji išrenka jaunikį, o nori nenori turi tuoktis. Pačiai ši knyga buvo malonus atradimas❤️ Skaitant vis piktinausi patiriamomis neteisybėmis, nuostatomis, kai kada liūdėjau dėl veikėjų ir ką joms teko patirti. Nors tai kūrinys parašytas be jokių pagražinimų apie Indijos moterų gyvenimus, bet pačią taip įtraukusi ir vis ieškodavau laisvesnio laiko kada galėsiu paskaityti❤️

[piperitapitta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tutto in una notte

Un viaggio in treno in compagnia di altre cinque donne, compagne occasionali per una notte, nel vagone riservato alle «cuccette per signora» cui il titolo fa riferimento, è il pretesto per Akhila, la protagonista del romanzo, per riconsiderare la propria esistenza sacrificata al bene della famiglia di origine e l'escamotage per l'autrice per tratteggiare i ritratti di sei donne indiane diverse tra loro ma unite dalla propria condizione - non proprio occidentalmente esaltante - di donne.

Donne che rivendicano la propria unicità, stanche di essere considerate tali, da se stesse in primis, solo in funzione del proprio ruolo di figlie, sorelle, mogli, mamme, amiche e che vorrebbero per una volta nella propria vita, vissuta solamente in funzione degli altri, porsi al centro dei propri pensieri e delle proprie azioni: libere di scegliere e di decidere.
I profumi ed i colori indiani però non sono riusciti a prendere il volo nella mia mente e nonostante pensi che la costruzione narrativa di fondo fosse buona, sono dell'idea che non sia stata poi sostenuta da una valida struttura che consentisse al romanzo di non perdere unità e armonia.
Credo anche che i troppi termini indiani all'interno del romanzo, privi di spiegazioni che mi aiutassero ad orientarmi tra cibi, religione e usanze - il solito glossario a fine libro o anche delle banalissime note di pagina sarebbero state gradite! - non abbiano giovato troppo alla fluidità della storia, relegando quasi sempre chi come me non è conosca l'India proprio come le sue tasche, al ruolo di spettatore, senza permettergli di salire anche lui a bordo del treno per lasciarsi trasportare da storie di un altro mondo e dal lento dondolio dei vagoni.

Il fatto che poi, qua e là, scivoli un po' sul romanzo rosa (oscillando tra i vecchi Harmony e i più audaci Blumoon) e che tutte le figure maschile ne escano piuttosto demolite, penso che possa essere considerato un altro limite di questo romanzo dalle troppe pagine per poche e concentrate emozioni.
Forse, riflettendoci a lettura ultimata, posso dire che quello che mi ha stupita ed in certo senso emozionata di più per la sua diversità dalle nostre abitudini, è stato proprio scoprire dell'esistenza in India di queste Ladies coupé, le vetture in cui sul treno è permesso a donne, bambini e vecchi, di viaggiare separati dal resto della massa: un'attenzione che non si capisce bene fino in fondo se sia poi da considerare un privilegio oppure una discriminazione.
Divertente e interessante invece l'appendice che propone alcune ricette indiane a fine libro e che non mancherò di provare!*

*(Mai fatto, naturalmente, anche perché a suo tempo ho restituito il libro a chi me l'aveva prestato che a sua volta l'ha dimenticato in un vagone della metropolitana)

[Vani Kaushal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can a woman live alone and be happy or does she always need a man to give meaning to her life? Through a prose that is as insightful and multi layered as it is thought provoking, the author questions a society that denies any happiness to a woman except that which comes to her through her family or her husband as if she has no identity of her own. Can a woman not seek out happiness on her own terms just as a man would? What about women who choose to break the canons of this society; are they condemned to the life of an outlier? We find out.

Akhila or Akhilandeshwari is a middle aged single woman and has spent her life following the rigourous norms set for her by her Tamil Brahmin community, except now, as she stands on the cusp of youth and old age, she finally begins to question if she feels truly satisfied and fulfilled. Her journey of self-discovery takes her aboard a train in a Ladies Coupe to Kanyakumari where she meets several other interesting women, all of whom have had different experiences in life-- from a ‘cossetted’ Janki with a perfect to the T husband to the 'wilful' Margaret Shanti who tamed her wayward man, from an 'insensate' Mari who was raped as a child and grew up hating men, to a 'perceptive' Sheela who is way too mature for her age, Akhila has heard it all and must now make her own choices. What will she decide? Or if it was you, would you still seek out a man to complete you? – A man who could give meaning to your life? I liked the book. Nice read!

[Prerna Gupta · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise is interesting. Six women travelling in a ladies coupé, each taking turns to tell the story of their rebellion and their subsequent empowerment. But the book didn't really wow me. It kept me hooked, but even while I read it, I kept feeling that this book could have been written so much better.
First of all, all the six stories seem to be about the same thing in the end. How someone/something tries to keep these women down, how they refuse to be controlled and suppressed, how they face hardships because of this and how they eventually become empowered and definitely wiser. There really could have been a little more variation to the story. Not all Indian girls have to rise up in arms to live a full life. This novel on the whole makes it seem like it's a sad case for women in India. But then I guess that is what the author set out to portray. I'm not sure...but I just felt there could be a little more variety in the stories.
Next up, the writing literally made me laugh out loud sometimes. What does "Love is methyl alcohol pretending to be ethyl alcohol" even mean?? The writing just seemed so forced. The one thing that particularly stood out for me were the bad BAD metaphors. Really, you expect better writing from someone who has been recommended by Khushwant Singh (though come to think of it, it seems quite apt...one not-so-good writer recommending another :P).
And the end? Badly written. I refuse to believe that someone who has led as conservative a life as Akhila can just one fine day get up and sleep with a total stranger just because some women on some train told her their stories. I don't, in the first place, understand why the writer needed to make Akhila sleep with someone to show that she had finally broken away from whatever was enslaving her. There are other ways you know!
All in all, the book did not enrich my life in any way, but I also do not regret reading it. Sometimes you just HAVE to read some "just average" book.

[Prash · Rating 1 out of 5]

full of cliches. the prose is un-illuminating. the stories of the five women are so banal one'd almost shudder to meet them in real life. supposed to be a text -book for writing in univs. as interesting as a textbook really.

[Conejo Literario · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Qué libro tan completo es El vagón de las mujeres! Desde Elena Ferrante no había leído algo así, que pusiera al centro de la historia el imaginario femenino. Más que una novela parece un conjunto de ensayos sobre las pequeñas formas que tienen las mujeres de resistir ante el sistema.

Maravilloso.

Nunca veré la química de la misma forma.

[Gattalucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dondolati dal ritmo lento di un treno

L'espediente smaccato per raccontare di solito mi mette a disagio... se hai da raccontare... e racconta!!! Questo poi non mi ha convinto per niente: che le donne si raccontino, è vero! che lo facciano meglio tra sconosciute, pure, ma che questo raccontarsi segua il filo di un viaggio, indipendentemente da chi ci sia nel tuo scompartimento...beh, è poco verosimile, anche se sei sicura che ci sarà comunque per forza una donna...
A parte questo alcuni racconti sono coinvolgenti, altri affrettati, e comunque tutti gli uomini finiscono per essere caricature esagerate...un po' troppo anche per me!
Ciò che ho salvato è la colonna sonora: il ritmo lento di un treno che mi riporta all'infanzia, quando i treni donodolavano con un ritmo che ora non sento più...ma come allora adesso arrivano comunque in ritardo!!!

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Feminidad universal, localización exótica.-

Género. Novela.

Lo que nos cuenta. El viaje de un tren nocturno une a varias mujeres en una zona reservada para ellas. Akhila, nuestra protagonista, servirá de hilo conductor para que conozcamos más sobre sus diferentes compañeras de viaje y, quizás, sobre ella misma.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Kabir Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ladies Coupe is about Akhilandeshwari, who’s been leading a spinster‘s life and has just turned 45 years old. She is now at the crossroads of her life, realising the lost prerogative of leading a normal life. Akhila was a radiant young girl who grew into a stubborn, resilient & organised woman, who likes her saree well starched and eats eggs, who ceded the love of her life and has lived her life under the fetters of a traditional Tamil-Brahman household abiding by all the social norms she is expected to, decides to set about on a train journey to Kanyakumari to abscond from the monotony of her life.
In the ladies coupe, she meets five other women who share with her their own life stories. Akhila wonders if it is possible to be single and happy; Can a woman feel complete without a man?

Anita Nair’s prose was an expedition with Akhila and the women in the coupe, exploring their different yet similar lives and finding the answers to Akhila's own wonderment. While weaving each character delicately with intricate details, Nair swept my conscience with realisations. How the most unexpected turns, burn the idea of a perfect life down to ashes, a realisation that life goes on and it is hardly perfect!
The importance of doing things for yourself and understanding self-worth. But my favourite has to be the story of Mari. Her story broke my heart more than once! As much as the ability to bear a child is a blessing, it has long been used to ridicule the expanse of a woman’s worth. Mari lived through all the atrocities life brought upon her. She was not the embodiment of perfection, but of resilience.
In Kanyakumari, Akhila spends her days like a free bird; master of her own life. But, the ending left me with a few questions unanswered. Did Akhila find her answers? How does her life change after returning? How did the lives of the other women go about?

The book, written in 1999, is way ahead of its time as Nair takes crafty pokes at misogyny and emboldens her characters into exploring their sexualities. Anita’s storytelling is excellent with detailed observations and flawless flow of language. There aren't a lot of books that crack me up, but this one did . Because humor is not a prominent theme of the book, its subtlety makes it even more attractive. Set in South India, for me it was a peep into a not so familiar culture. All the characters hail from a more or less common background which at certain points does come off as repetitive and hints at lack of versatility in terms of developing discrete settings. The common backgrounds though bred congeniality both among the characters and between characters and the reader, so perhaps that was what the writer wanted, but it still left me with a dual opinion. The book made me want to talk to more unfamiliar faces, listen to their stories, and most of all, to set for a train journey in a berth in the ladies compartment someday.

With recommendation from Khuswant Singh, this book is for everyone but might be more relatable to women, especially Indian women.

[Ahtims · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had great expectations for this book and have waited for almost a year or more to read it. Finally when I laid my hands on it, somehow it let me down.(And co-incidently I read it during a train journey, but not in a ladies coupe. ) It links the lives of 6 women from various backgrounds who happen to be in a ladies coupe of a long distance train. And as expected, their lives are not beds of roses. Except for one or two, all had quite okay lives from Indian standard, and the common thing they had was that they were strong and decisive. The book was not very fast paced, and at some points I had a feeling that it doesn't happen so in real life.. On the whole, a readable book, but not a five star one for me.

[Irene Daguno · Rating 5 out of 5]

a ladies coupe is a special room with second class reservation for overnight trains in india. this book is about six women (the "I" changes depending on the story teller) who met each other inside that coupe. (a coupe, my housemate told me this morning over breakfast, is a car body type that has a fixed roof among others; a convertible coupe has a moveable roof but still has the rigid structure of a coupe.) the novel opens with this: "this is the way it has always been: the smell of a railway platform at night fills akhila with a sense of escape."

a very feminist novel - feminism strongly runs through it without being uttered. i learned a lot.

[librosgatosyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustaron tanto las historias de estas mujeres que me hubiera encantado leer mas sobre ellas. Son seis mujeres que viajan en un tren y donde cada una va contando su vida, sus costumbres, pensamientos y reflexiones respecto a decisiones que tomaron, o situaciones que vivieron.
Amé que en la parte final anexaran recetas, que si bien no sé si me atrevo a realizarlas, al menos ya sé que ingredientes llevan.
Recomendado 👌🏼

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderous kismet library find, this book. Glad I stumbled across it while shortcutting through the "N" aisle. Picked it up because of it's pretty and colorful paperback spine, to be honest. The book lived up to all the glowing GR reviews and back cover promises.

Tells the individual stories from first person point of view of every one of the five ladies sharing an overnight car on the Kanyakumari Express from Bangalore, India. Overarching story told from the perspective of Akhila, arcing from her childhood to a pivotal decision made in her 45th year. Ends with a happy gasp and the proclimation: "It can't end already!"

Can't wait to read another wonder by Anita Nair.

[Martina ⭐ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Da molto tempo avevo in libreria questo libro.
E l'ho preso in mano come se mi chiamasse e mi invitasse a leggerlo.
India: sei donne, sei storie, sei vite.
Tutte loro si ritrovano nello stesso scompartimento con cuccette, dirette verso luoghi diversi.
Ognuna di loro si racconta e dà consiglio.
Molto interessante, intimo, crudele.
Mi ha trasmesso fiducia, confidenza e riflessione sulla diversità delle vite che ci circondano.
Tutte hanno qualcosa da raccontare.
Tutte hanno qualcosa da riscattare.

[Alberto Delgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho porque se lee muy fácil y me ha abierto la visión de como viven las mujeres indias en su país fuera de los típicos estereotipos que vemos en las peliculas made in bollywood. En un país tan grande como la india son muchas las diferencias sociales que se producen por los sistemas de castas y económicos pero todas las mujeres tienen algo en común y es que todavía tienen que superar muchas barreras culturales para alcanzar una vida de igualdad en derechos con los hombres. Me ha encantado leerlo precisamente en este mes.

[la_circe_lectora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hace unos meses lei este libro que me sirve para la premisa de India de Lecturas Niponas.

Reseña
El vagón de las mujeres es una historia inspiradora, una novela que fluye gracias a su escritura ágil y la empatía que logras sentir por Akhila, su protagonista.
En la India ser mujer no ha de ser cosa fácil, al menos así lo muestra Anita en esta novela que habla de mujeres y de sentimientos.
Akhila tiene cuarenta y tantos años, está soltera y vive con su madre. Trabaja. Eso sí, es trabajadora. Cansada de su rutina y de que la ninguneen, un buen día decide huir y lo hace subiendo a un tren en la estación de Bangalore.
En este tren compartirá espacio con cinco mujeres bien diferentes: Janaki, madre confundida; Margaret, profesora de química; Prabha, la sumisa esposa, Sheela una niña de catorce años y Marikolanthu la más experimentada de todas.
Cada una irá explicando su vida, su realidad, expondrá sus miedos, hablarán de temas como la educación, la cultura y la condición de ser mujer. Akhila encontrará respuestas a esas preguntas sobre amor, matrimonio y familia con la tranquilidad de que ninguna de esas mujeres la traicionará en un futuro.
Este es un libro inspirador sobre encontrarnos a nosotros mimos.
Akhila se encuentra a sí misma.
A veces para encontrarnos a nosotros mismos debemos perdernos en lo desconocido.

Es una novela que fluye y que atrapa, además simpatizas con su protagonista Akhila.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Indian Akhila has always sacrificed herself for her family, which means she has not been able to build her own family life. When she is 45, she still finds herself unable to lead her life independently. She longs for a change in her monotonous life and one day books a trip to Kanyakumari in the far southwest of India. Five women travel together in a ladies' compartment of the night train. Akhila asks everyone whether a single woman needs a man for the ultimate feeling of happiness. The women each answer this question with her own life story. The core of each story is that none of these five women has ever known the right to make decisions about their lives. The portraits always illustrate hopeless situations in women's lives, and yet each story has a certain twist that makes the individual strength of each woman visible.
It is a book written from women's own strengths. The theme of single women in a community where everything revolves around extended family is also daring and in this case very well developed, the characters become real individuals each with their own personality. The author brings a theme that until sofar is not heard so much. JM

[Masteatro · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 estrellas
6 mujeres en un vagón de tren, seis vidas, seis historias que contar.
Es interesante, nos da una visión de la vida de las mujeres en la India en el siglo XX. Mujeres que no son ni pobres ni ricas, pero que están mucho más sometidas a los deseos de los demás de lo que quisieran.
Las historias de cada una de las compañeras de viaje de Akhila se cuentan una a una intercalandose con la vida de la proppia Akka, por lo que la narración es clara y el lector no se pierde en ningún momento.
Aún así, algunas de las narraciones me han interesado bastante más que otras. Creo que a partir de la mitad el libro mejora.
Me hubiese gustado que hubiera un poco más de explicación de ciertas costumbres o ritos hindúes ya que en ocasiones he tenido que buscar en Internet para comprender por completo de qué se estaba hablando.

[Nicoletta Furnari · Rating 4 out of 5]

È da un po’ che avevo intenzione di leggere “CUCCETTE PER SIGNORA” perché, come raramente succede, mi era capitato di scorrerne rapidamente la sinossi e di rimanerne intrigata.
In realtà, se è pur vero che Akhila è una single quarantacinquenne che prende un treno verso una località di mare e si apre ad intime confidenze con le cinque donne che condividono con lei lo scompartimento durante il viaggio notturno, l’abstract è davvero molto riduttivo.
Non mi aveva assolutamente preparato all’intensità con cui Anita Nair approfondisce la personalità e la vita di queste sei figure femminili, confinate all’interno di un’esistenza insoddisfacente, condannate da un modo di concepire la donna tipico della società e della cultura indiana ma che, dal mio punto di vista, è umiliante, se non addirittura ignobile.
Ho apprezzato il fatto che, chi prima e chi dopo e, comunque ognuna a modo suo, abbiano trovato il coraggio e la forza di ribellarsi alla propria condizione e di aprirsi una strada verso una maggiore libertà.
Grazie a questo libro (e grazie anche alle mie pregresse esperienze legate a Bollywood) ho avuto l’opportunità di viaggiare anch’io in un mondo a me davvero estraneo ma che, nonostante tutto, mi incuriosisce. Interessante, inoltre, si è rivelata l’appendice culinaria: non mi ha mai ispirato molto la cucina indiana perché ho sempre pensato fosse troppo speziata (pregiudizio mio) ma, a questo punto, penso sia doveroso fare un tentativo…

[Emanuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scritto con stile scorrevole dove si alternano descrizioni ambientali molto colorate dagli oggetti in uso delle donne indiane, i sari o i fiori carnosi dalle tinte forti che contrastano con i grigiori dell'anima repressa delle protagoniste, che si raccontano le rispettive vite durante un viaggio notturno in treno.
Ciascuna soffre della subalternità sessista e lotta contro la povertà o il pregiudizio, non tanto diverso da quello che si poteva vivere da noi ancora nella metà del secolo scorso.
Molto forti e toccanti le esperienze di violenza. Per tutte tenace il desiderio di riscatto e di emancipazione e ciascuna, a modo suo, la raggiunge, se non altro nella convinzione della propria unicità.

Ammetto che non è il genere di romanzo che preferisco, ma l'autrice riesce a dare ai personaggi una caratterizzazione decisa. Questo soprattutto il pregio del libro.

[Nea Poulain · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.neapoulain.com/2018/12/el...

La verdad es que le debo mucha atención a las novelistas de la India, sobre todo porque las dos que he leído este año tienen sendos puestos en las mejores lecturas que he realizado este año. La primera es Arundhati Roy, de quien leí El ministerio de la felicidad suprema y El dios de las pequeñas cosas y la segunda es Anita Nair, que acabo de conocer gracias al maratón Guadalupe Reinas que hacemos en Libros b4 Tipos (y que espero se convierta en tradición). Bueno, este libro es bastante largo para meterlo en un maratón de lectura (en goodreads me sale que su edición en español con Alfaguara tiene poco más de 400 páginas), sin embargo, el libro apenas me duró poco menos de tres días. Pero bueno, vamos por partes, el libro empieza con la siguiente nota:

Hasta principios de 1998 había una taquilla especial para las señoras, los ancianos y los minúsválidos en la estación distrito de Bangalore. Y en la mayor parte de los trenes nocturnos de la India con compartimientos de segunda clase había un vagón especial para mujeres.
Desde entonces, se ha abolido la ventanilla de las mujeres en todas las estaciones de tren. También me han informado varios empleados de los ferrocarriles, en particular jefes de estación y revisores, de que el vagón de las mujeres ya no existe y que los vagones nuevos se fabrican sin este compartimiento.

En general, para mí las estaciones de tren en la India son una pequeña pesadilla. Conocí la más grande de Dehli y puedo decir que, si tuviera que viajar sola en ese lugar, no llegaría a ninguna parte. Todo está escrito en hindi. De todos modos, la única vez que viajé en tren, lo hice desde una estación más pequeña de Dehli, rumbo a Agra, en una clase de segunda, sleeper. Los boletos más baratos de mi vida. Usualmente prefería el autobús porque llegué a entender cómo funcionaban las ventanillas y dónde buscar los precios y destinos. Y cómo pelearme por los boletos. En las estaciones de autobús casi siempre hay fila de mujeres, sobre todo cuando hay mucha gente. Te formas en la ventanilla del destino y, con un billete en la mano, casi gritas cuantos boletos quieres para que te hagan caso (cuando hay mucha gente). Si no te sabes los números en hindi o ellos no los entienden en inglés, las señas. Como siempre había menos mujeres que viajaban solas, me mandaban a mí por los boletos en algunas estaciones.


Y eso también funciona en muchos otras partes: hay fila de mujeres en la ventanilla de los bancos (en la demotización, solía ser yo la primera en pasar a ventanilla a cambiar billetes que habían sacado de circulación), hay fila de mujeres en los cajeros cuando están llenos (llegué a entrar con casi cuatro tarjetas y cuatro pines porque en la época de la demotización los cajeros duraban con dinero unas tres horas, si no sacabas en ese intervalo, no sacabas, y era más fácil que pasara yo más rápido). En los autobuses hay asientos de mujeres. Mientras no haya ninguna mujer parada en el autobús, no importa quien se siente en esas filas. Cuando hay, depende de la ruta, pero usualmente los revisores paran a alguien para que las mujeres puedan sentarse. Me pasó una vez en el trayecto de Noida a Greater Noida (un trayecto como de cuarenta minutos, que un revisor paró a gritos a un hombre para que yo pudiera sentarme). Y en los museos o templos o sitios arqueológicos donde hay revisión, siempre hay una fila de mujeres y otra de hombres (en el Taj Mahal incluso dividen entre locales y extranjeros porque vigilan bastante bien que ningún extranjero entre con boleto de local, que es más de diez veces más barato). En fin, ya que terminamos mis aventuras en la India como introducción a este libro, sólo quiero decir que lo sentí muy cercano. Entendí las referencias, la comida, los festivales y las costumbres, a pesar de que el libro esté ambientado en el sur de la India y yo haya vivido al norte, en Punjab.


En fin, después de toda esa perorata sobre la India, me dispongo a contarles sobre el libro. El vagón de las mujeres es un libro coral que cuenta la historia de seis mujeres muy diferentes, de distintos estratos sociales en su relación a la vida social, el matrimonio, los hombres y el amor. La protagonista, Akhila, es una mujer que no se casó nunca, puesto que se tuvo que hacer cargo de su familia cuando su padre murió, decide perdirle consejo a las mujeres que viajan con ella. ¿Es difícil vivir sola?, se pregunta, puesto que desea hacer (aun vive con su hermana, que se pegó a ella). ¿Podrá todavía encontrar el amor? Las mujeres les responden contándole sus historias. Las más viejas, las más jóvenes, todas historias diferentes. Una mujer que desea aprender a nadar más que nada. Una nieta que se encarga de su abuela enferma. Una mujer que sí conoció el amor en su matrimonio, otra que no. Las historias son diferentes entre sí y abordan multitud de temas que tienen que ver con las mujeres: el matrimonio (que en la India es prácticamente una obligación, las que no se casan son solteronas), el aborto, los hijos, la falta de independencia. Una a una, las mujeres van contando poco a poco sus historias mientras Akhila le cuenta la suya al lector. Prácticamente todas ahondan en su relación con el amor. De todos los relatos hay cosas que rescatarles.


Sheela, la más joven de todas las que van en el vagón, se encarga de su abuela moribunda (hay una escena bastante especial donde su abuela, indefensa, sin maquillaje y sin arreglar, se niega a bajar de la ambulancia porque no quieren que la vean así y Sheela la ayuda, a su manera, para hacerla feliz) y pelea constantemente con su familia. Pelea usualmente con su padre, que la encuentra descarada. Hay una escena donde se imagina que le diría a uno de sus tíos que se porta con su primera menor igual que recordaba que su padre se comportaba con ella cuando era descarada y más pequeña (le hace gracia) y la verdad es que subrayaría ese pedazo millones de veces:

Mi padre hacía lo mismo. Le parecía muy divertido que yo fuera una descarada. Pero ahora lo llama mala educación y lo pone furioso. Por favor, no le haga lo mismo a ella. Crecerá convencida de que hay que ser así. Mejor enséñela a tragarse las palabras, enséñela a proferir cosas agradables, bonitas e inocuas. Mate su espíritu y domestique su lengua. Para que cuando crezca no se encuentre como yo, preguntándome que es lo que he dicho de malo o qué disparate voy a decir la próxima vez que abra la boca.

De verdad me gustó mucho esa parte. Sheela es una adolescente que no se atiene aún a las convenciones sociales y no entiende qué es lo que esperan de ella. Nunca han domado su espíritu. Mis historias favoritas, sin embargo, son la de Margaret y la de Mari. Margaret está en medio de un matrimonio infeliz con un hombre que es director de una escuela y no tiene el más mínimo amor por la pedagogía. Mari ha tenido una vida muy complicada, siempre buscando cómo sacar adelante a su familia mientras que a ella ni siquiera le tocó estudiar.

Me gustaron mucho todas las historias. De verdad recomiendo el libro y sin duda considero que es un buen libro que poner en la lista de pendientes. Sobre todo si quieren conocer un poco más de la India, es un libro que tiene un pequeño bonus: al final trae recetar de cocina del sur de la India. Todo es delicioso.

[Amina Thajudeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for the first time when I was studying in school. I borrowed a translated edition of Ladies coupe from a local library. This was the first book, I ever read by the author. Since then, I became a follower of Anita Nair's works.

I have seen many reviews stating that there is nothing special about this story. Maybe many readers are not impressed by her writing style. But I liked it from the first line I ever read from this book.

I liked the way she narrated a story and I never think that they are any ordinary stories. Although many readers are stated contradictorily in negative reviews. Anyhow, I believe, a writer cannot satisfy every reader with their work, because after all, we're all different lives.

One of the best quality of the author's writing style is her observation skills. She has captured the essence of all the small details in a scene and portrayed through her words.
I still remember many of her quotes in various life situations. This is solely because of her accurate observation skills.

If you like to explore the writings of female authors, I will definitely recommend Anita Nair's works.


Synopsis of Ladies Coupe is published in my blog ( Link in bio)

[Karine Mon coin lecture · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nous sommes dans un train en Inde et six femmes sont ensemble dans un compartiment. Akhila part seule pour la première fois et se demande si elle peut vivre seule en étant une femme. Les six vont se raconter. Un récit frappant sur la situation des femmes en Inde au 20e siècle.

[Srujan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find rating books in stars a little difficult these days. Probably because I don't have a clearly etched benchmark of what a 5-star rated book should be like. It happened that way with this book. Parts of this book were brilliant, especially the initial 150 pages or so. It begins with Akhilandeswari, a 45-year-old, single woman who works as an income tax clerk, buys a one-way ticket to Kanyakumari. When she steps into the Coupé ( this Coupé thing itself sounds so romantic and beautifully fictional because I have never travelled by a Coupe ), she meets and talks to six women, all from different walks of life, and listens to their life stories as narrated by them. In parallel, her thoughts take us through how she has become what she has become. Her childhood and a weekend from when her Appa was alive is the part of the book I didn't want to move on from. I silently judged her mother, just like Akhila did, from dissolving her existence in the pool that was nothing but her husband. I am not particularly impressed with the characters of Akhila's family, but they are quite realistic. But some places are magical. It is probably the hapless romantic in me but it was like I stood on the other side of the curtain of steam that rose from a mound of white, glistening grains of rice her mother served her father on a plantain leaf, every Sunday. Here I quote the author: "Piping Hot, fragrant with the alchemy of steam, spices and Amma's devotion to the man who, for her sake and the children's', lunched on curd rice and a slice of lime pickle, six days a week and never complained." A few paragraphs later, I am smiling in approval as Amma makes fried, succulent, half moon Kathirikai Bajjis for Tiffin but doesn't mix filter coffee decoction until she has the Kesari ready to serve.

Call me a glutton, but reading this made me so happy that day. I erupted in rage as the Tamil teacher makes her learn Thiruvalluvar's couplets by heart but ridicules little Akhila for reading Wordsworth. I don't mean the other stories are not worth reading. They are. They are stories of how women seize control of a portion of their lives and steer things towards the course they choose. Yes, I can nod and clap and approve of everything these six characters do, and without belittling them, it is all very admirable too. But six stories get a little too much for me. Because like Akhila thinks, somewhere midway, in the book, there is no point in trying to define the reality of someone's life, Akhila's or your own, by prying through the threads of several lives, look for similar threads and pick at them to justify a course of action or a choice. All the stories are good in their own merit, as short stories, but they are forcibly gelled/glued together. Even if the narrator doesn't draw too many parallels from the women's lives in order to make sense of her decisions, it was a bit of a drag. I approached the stories are detached short stories once I reached about half way in the book. But I would still refrain from calling this a bad book. I may not have found it profound or anything, but it was overall a pleasant read, thanks to the beautiful scenes the author manages to create throughout the course of the book. A few of the other ones that I liked were the sections on Amma's love for Kolam designs and the portion where Akhila in a way rebels against the TamBram taboo surrounding eggs and how she falls in love with the boiled egg. The joy she experiences comes more from the feeling of liberty more than the taste of egg I believe. This is my second book by Anita Nair and I will keep picking up her books in the future visits to the bookstore.

[itsnikhat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Began reading this book with many hopes of it being a great read, but from the first few pages it became quite clear that I wouldn’t be enjoying it as much. Nevertheless, I continued reading thinking it might improve, but I was unable to sympathise with the protagonist despite the ordeal she goes through — and this is disappointing! There were only few moments where I rooted for her. For a book told majorly from Akhila’s, our protagonist, point of view, we don’t really get to see who she really is. If anything, she’s a silent observer of her circumstances and only lets us in to her thoughts very rarely.

Ladies Coupé is a book which sheds a light on various hardships that women go through in form of Akhila and her interactions with fellow women of different ages. Akhila is a 45 year old unmarried woman whose life seems to have passed by while she was making sure that the rest of her family lived. Becoming the breadwinner for her family at a young age put a stop to many of the things that Akhila might have achieved otherwise. However, after years of sacrifice, she’s now finally ready to stand up for herself. And all of this comes from her tiring of her surroundings and the people around her, with just enough push from the stories of women she comes across.

Within the first few pages of the book, we are immediately introduced to classism. Akhila and the rest of the women quickly judge the sixth passenger based on the way she is dressed and looks and are glad when they don’t have to interact with her when she isolates herself. Throughout the journey, that character is ignored and only towards the end we see her life story shared and even that is told in a very matter of fact manner as if the sole purpose was getting her story out and nothing else. The rest of the stories that the women in Akhila’s coupé share are more or less similar. They describe the mundane things of women’s lives which are deeply rooted in patriarchy and how each woman has tried to fight it in her own manner or accepted it and defends it. Though I usually love reading books which highlight such issues, I was unable to with this one. Another thing that was a major turn off was the constant mentions of caste purity throughout the story. It’s never Akhila who indulges in it and she stands up to it a couple of times, but the repeated reinforcement of the thoughts in form of her mother’s words and the rest of her family’s doesn’t really help much and it might be triggering.

After reading LC, I’m not sure I want to explore any more of Anita Nair’s books. I wouldn’t really recommend this either. Maybe one can read it between two great books, but it turned into such a lethargic experience for me that I wouldn’t even suggest that.

[Elisabetta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was somehow disappointed from this reading. I've heard so many times talking about this book like something different from the "usual Indian fiction" and how intense and deep was this novel, that I maybe formed it in my mind like something different. I think that the plot is good: an unmarried Indian woman, after having took care of her family after the death of her father, finds herself different from what she would have been. She is still living with her younger sister - who has her own family but seems like she can't let her elder sister go, despite her being really nasty and unbearable with her - and decides to move. I liked the idea that the book was set on a train, especially if we think it is set on an "only women coach". What happens then is that the novel is no more a novel with a tissue linking all the stories of the women Akhila meets. It looks more like a collection of stories, like the women she met just pass through the coach to narrate their lives and then depart, hardly remembered. The women really not face each others, do not discuss about what they are saying. One of the stories really fall apart from the usual Indian cliché (Prabha Devis' one, which remains my favourite), but the others look or really inconsequential, or really sad in the manner that if there's something that is should go wrong, it will. I noticed that the author is also quite "obsessed" by sex, so this is not treated like one of the subjects of the novel, but more like a straining to make the whole thing interesting, putting it unrequested also in the final part, making it like something really unreal and spoiling the whole thing.

[Edita · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a train women complete strangers start telling their life stories, trying to define their own reality. They need to justify their failures seeking similarities in their unhappiness, they need to feel less guilty for who they became.

During the course of a short nap one afternoon in September, a week after her fortieth birthday, it occurred to Prabha Devi that she had forgotten the sound of her own voice. What do I sound like? Is my voice shrill or harsh? Does it pitch low or high? Does it float like the wind or fall like bricks? She opened her mouth and spoke her name: Pra-bhaa-de-vi. A sound emerged that was a little like a bleat and more like a mewl. So this is my voice, she thought. Between an irate sheep and a kitten being strangled.
Prabha Devi rose from the spring-mattress-fitted bed covered with a satin spread and switched off the air-conditioning. She pushed aside the heavy drapes that turned the room into a womb where the waking world had no entry and flung open the French windows. The terraced lawn beamed, flushed with sunshine and moisture. Prabha Devi walked on to the grass. The blades tickled her toes. She raised her head to the evening sun and parted her lips. Sunshine dribbled down her throat. She licked her lips and tried saying her name again. This time, the ghost of a former life drifted out of her mouth. And Prabha Devi felt a gradual awakening of life. Where have I been all this while? she asked herself At first quietly, tremulously and then furiously. What was I doing all this while?

[Brown Girl Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ladies Coupé is the story of Akhila and six other women that she meets on the train. Akhila is searching for the answer to the question ‘Can she live alone?’ Traditionally in Indian culture women are supposed to get married and if that doesn’t happen their only other alternative is to live with family. Akhila has been the breadwinner of her family since the death of her father when she was in her early twenties. She worked providing financial support to her mother, younger brothers and sister as they grew up. All the while Akhila was forsaking her life to respect her duties to her family. One day gets an idea into her head to live alone but doesn’t know if it’s really possible for her. or for in other woman for the matter So she invents a work trip to get away to reflect on her future as maybe a woman living alone. Continue reading over at http://didibooksenglish.wordpress.com...

[kyma_booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akhila es una mujer soltera de unos cuarenta y cinco años que se tuvo que hacer cargo de su familia tras la muerte de su padre. Siempre han dependido todos de ella, hasta que un día decide huir de todos. En el tren que toma, dentro del vagón destinado a mujeres, conoce a otras cinco viajeras. Una a una irán contando su historia para ayudar de esa manera a las dudas e inquietudes que tiene Akhila.

Novela escogida para el país de la India en mi reto de #ReadingTheWorld. Ha sido toda una sorpresa. Gracias a los testimonios de estas mujeres podemos conocer el papel que ha tenido la mujer en la India, que era lo que la sociedad dictaba que tenían que ser y las consecuencias de salirse de la norma.

A través de las historias intercaladas de estas cinco compañeras de viaje con la suya propia, Akhila conocerá sus historias y escuchará sus consejos. El ritmo de la narración es bastante fluido. A pesar de que la extensión de los capítulos varía y algunos son bastante largos, prácticamente en ningún momento se te hace pesado. Quizá, solo un tramo en el medio hizo que mi atención decayera un poco, pero según me acercaba al final, todo cambió y la atención se volvió máxima.

Me ha gustado conocer el papel de las mujeres en este país, tan desconocido para mí. Mujeres más urbanitas y otras más rurales. Poder conocer las costumbres que tienen, tan difíciles de entender en muchas ocasiones. Me ha impacto mucho que todo esté tan separado, filas para sacar los billetes para mujeres, vagón exclusivo para mujeres… La mujer carece de libertades, desde pequeñas tienen que seguir los preceptos que les van marcando sus familias. Prepararse para el matrimonio y después hacer caso en todo lo que su marido diga. Si no están de acuerdo con esto y deciden vivir otro tipo de vida se convierten en unas parias de la sociedad.

La verdad que es una novela que merece mucho la pena leer para poder conocer más de todo este tema.