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The Weight of a Cherry Blossom
If you took a map and pinned each city I've lived in, I'd exist somewhere in the tautness of the string attaching one point to the other.
If a life is lived across many homes - from balmy Chennai to muggy Mumbai, the crackling expansiveness of Delhi to the breathtaking splendour of Vancouver in spring - where do you truly belong? If you are constantly on the move, is home just what customs can clear? And how do you find love, in the middle of it all, when you do not or cannot stay in one city long enough?
Funny, poignant and reflective, The Weight of a Cherry Blossom is a fable of rootlessness and belonging in the modern world. It is equal parts a story of urban loneliness and self-discovery and of the healing powers of kinship and love. Revisiting the awkwardness of adolescence and the chaos of growing up, it looks the foibles of adulthood irreverently in the eye.
Tracing the powerful patterns of family, friendship, storytelling, fear, love and loss from her childhood to the teetering end of her 20s, Shruti Buddhavarapu takes you through the embarrassing yet affirming adventures of a life lived with one's heart on one's sleeve - through illness, despair and joy.
If a life is lived across many homes - from balmy Chennai to muggy Mumbai, the crackling expansiveness of Delhi to the breathtaking splendour of Vancouver in spring - where do you truly belong? If you are constantly on the move, is home just what customs can clear? And how do you find love, in the middle of it all, when you do not or cannot stay in one city long enough?
Funny, poignant and reflective, The Weight of a Cherry Blossom is a fable of rootlessness and belonging in the modern world. It is equal parts a story of urban loneliness and self-discovery and of the healing powers of kinship and love. Revisiting the awkwardness of adolescence and the chaos of growing up, it looks the foibles of adulthood irreverently in the eye.
Tracing the powerful patterns of family, friendship, storytelling, fear, love and loss from her childhood to the teetering end of her 20s, Shruti Buddhavarapu takes you through the embarrassing yet affirming adventures of a life lived with one's heart on one's sleeve - through illness, despair and joy.
- GenresBiography Memoir
Audible Audio
Published February 7, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 26, 2020
A memoir about love, grief, life and bond with parents, mental illness, PCOS and calling many places home.
I particularly enjoyed the chapter with 90s nostalgia. The author talks about Childcraft and More tell me why, and I was simply back in that world where I was doing the same thing. Also Nancy Drew,Hard boys, Sweet valley high, Goosebumps, all that. Also remember those internet history bars. What seems like a simple task today wasn't so easy back then.
The memoir was funny in parts, esp the childhood pranks. Overall it it a quiet and slow read focussing on childhood and the twenties. There are chapters on finding 'home', the changing roles of parents as we enter adulthood and managing mental illness. There are also passages on the elusive nature of love and how we meet and part from many people in a lifestime.
Goodreads
Much thanks to Rupa for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
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I particularly enjoyed the chapter with 90s nostalgia. The author talks about Childcraft and More tell me why, and I was simply back in that world where I was doing the same thing. Also Nancy Drew,Hard boys, Sweet valley high, Goosebumps, all that. Also remember those internet history bars. What seems like a simple task today wasn't so easy back then.
The memoir was funny in parts, esp the childhood pranks. Overall it it a quiet and slow read focussing on childhood and the twenties. There are chapters on finding 'home', the changing roles of parents as we enter adulthood and managing mental illness. There are also passages on the elusive nature of love and how we meet and part from many people in a lifestime.
Goodreads
Much thanks to Rupa for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest
November 6, 2019
This book talks about Shruti- from her birth, her childhood, her fears, her parents, her grandparents, her uncles and aunts, her brother, her cousins, and her feelings through it all. It talks about her relationships with her family and also about her family moving from one place to another and how she felt uprooted every time they moved and how she never had best friends. It talks about her love for books and also her illness and how she tried coping with it.
This is one book which has been written from the heart. I could see little Shruti weaving stories, young Shruti and little Varun and Shruti in Canada trying to map her ways. I could see her trying to adjust to her school and I could visualise her travelling across the continents and cities. I could see little Varun in the orange sweater touching four year old Shruti’s cheeks and I could see Shruti spending time with her grandmother after her Tatha’s passing away. I could see Shruti suffer from PCOS and shuffling from one doctor to another in search of treatment.
It is an introspection, a well written memoir describing her inner feelings. The descriptions are detailed, be it her feelings or be it the scenes. The language is simple and the book is funny at times too. The book is divided in two parts, Weight and Weightlessness and the names of the chapters are different.
Highly recommended, with a request to start from chapter one and then read the prologue and introduction once you are midway, it becomes more interesting.
This is one book which has been written from the heart. I could see little Shruti weaving stories, young Shruti and little Varun and Shruti in Canada trying to map her ways. I could see her trying to adjust to her school and I could visualise her travelling across the continents and cities. I could see little Varun in the orange sweater touching four year old Shruti’s cheeks and I could see Shruti spending time with her grandmother after her Tatha’s passing away. I could see Shruti suffer from PCOS and shuffling from one doctor to another in search of treatment.
It is an introspection, a well written memoir describing her inner feelings. The descriptions are detailed, be it her feelings or be it the scenes. The language is simple and the book is funny at times too. The book is divided in two parts, Weight and Weightlessness and the names of the chapters are different.
Highly recommended, with a request to start from chapter one and then read the prologue and introduction once you are midway, it becomes more interesting.
December 1, 2019
The Weight of a Cherry Blossom is an autobiographical account of the author penning down her experiences of growing as an adult. Shruti, the author, is the protagonist of the book who takes us on a small but contemplative journey toward finding ourselves. As the narrative moves back and forth in the time, Shruti opens up about her early childhood, her dispositions, fears, friendships, familial ties, career, her sense of rootlessness as she travels cities, and of course, her love for reading.
To be able to write a book that mirrors 'others' and not just you, that serves the right amount of truth, the right amount of honesty, that swings between our fantasies and reality, that presents the hidden facets of the reader to himself, that lets them come to terms with their own experiences and then initiate a process of reconciliation with their past, Shruti did it with a delightful writing style and flawless candor. Although it was Shruti's memoir I felt a strong sense of belonging with the book. As she went on to explain her demanding attention from her parents, as she speaks about her illnesses be it physical or emotional, I felt it real. Raw and genuine.
I especially loved her narration on reading books and how does reading becomes a part of who we are, in the due course of time. In addition to the narration and development of the plot, I was engaged by the lyrical writing style which was smooth and fine. Her struggle with identity issues, PCOS, growing up, a career that keeps her on the move constantly, to her learning the lesson of accepting oneself, everything has been brought meticulously. You can't help but be mesmerized with the narrative playing right in front of you. In all, I loved this one and I honestly feel short of words to express how much I actually reveled in it.
Girls, young women, and everyone, please do read this one. I am sure you won't be a tad bit disappointed.
To be able to write a book that mirrors 'others' and not just you, that serves the right amount of truth, the right amount of honesty, that swings between our fantasies and reality, that presents the hidden facets of the reader to himself, that lets them come to terms with their own experiences and then initiate a process of reconciliation with their past, Shruti did it with a delightful writing style and flawless candor. Although it was Shruti's memoir I felt a strong sense of belonging with the book. As she went on to explain her demanding attention from her parents, as she speaks about her illnesses be it physical or emotional, I felt it real. Raw and genuine.
I especially loved her narration on reading books and how does reading becomes a part of who we are, in the due course of time. In addition to the narration and development of the plot, I was engaged by the lyrical writing style which was smooth and fine. Her struggle with identity issues, PCOS, growing up, a career that keeps her on the move constantly, to her learning the lesson of accepting oneself, everything has been brought meticulously. You can't help but be mesmerized with the narrative playing right in front of you. In all, I loved this one and I honestly feel short of words to express how much I actually reveled in it.
Girls, young women, and everyone, please do read this one. I am sure you won't be a tad bit disappointed.
November 19, 2019
The Weight of a Cherry Blossom is the story of a person in search of belonging amidst their rootless existence.
The story articulately weaves together the struggles of finding an identity and belongingness being in the middle of a life that is always on the go.
It also depicts the hardships of growing up with a disease accompanied by the awkwardness of adolescence and the diversity of environments.
Beautifully written with a satirical touch, this book will touch just the right chords with you.
The critical writing style will help you connect to the narrator on a personal level.
The difficulties faced by the people in transferable careers and their struggles with adaptation to the new surroundings are very thoughtfully penned down.
The aptness of the title is another beauty of this book. Just like how the cherry blossoms are strong enough to stay a while but light enough to leave no trace, the people on the go display the same characteristics.
Lastly, I fell in love with the cover of this book. It's just so mesmerizing.
Will recommend all the readers out there to read this book once.
The story articulately weaves together the struggles of finding an identity and belongingness being in the middle of a life that is always on the go.
It also depicts the hardships of growing up with a disease accompanied by the awkwardness of adolescence and the diversity of environments.
Beautifully written with a satirical touch, this book will touch just the right chords with you.
The critical writing style will help you connect to the narrator on a personal level.
The difficulties faced by the people in transferable careers and their struggles with adaptation to the new surroundings are very thoughtfully penned down.
The aptness of the title is another beauty of this book. Just like how the cherry blossoms are strong enough to stay a while but light enough to leave no trace, the people on the go display the same characteristics.
Lastly, I fell in love with the cover of this book. It's just so mesmerizing.
Will recommend all the readers out there to read this book once.
December 3, 2019
Shruti Buddhavarapu's strength lies in image and metaphor. Her style of verse is simple and modern, nonlinear parts which interconnect to form ideas and moods. Her subject matter -- themes of rootlessness, transitions and growing up -- are not unexpected but, it is the sudden and surprising image or metaphor that begs to be read again and again, not from confusion, but from the sense that such a line needs to be savored, that makes Weight of the Cherry Blossom so engaging.
Perhaps written as a "coming to terms" memoir, the book dives into the author's life armed with wit and subtlety and reading it dusted off memories of my own experiences through my twenties, and showed me how the journey is truly more important than the destination and how acceptance is the first step to self realization.
Deft like Pico Iyer in manifesting thoughts and moods into words, and the with the compassionate treatment of O.Henry towards both the good and bad in her life, Shruti's writing never misses a beat. A truly gratifying and affirming read.
Perhaps written as a "coming to terms" memoir, the book dives into the author's life armed with wit and subtlety and reading it dusted off memories of my own experiences through my twenties, and showed me how the journey is truly more important than the destination and how acceptance is the first step to self realization.
Deft like Pico Iyer in manifesting thoughts and moods into words, and the with the compassionate treatment of O.Henry towards both the good and bad in her life, Shruti's writing never misses a beat. A truly gratifying and affirming read.
June 8, 2020
I feel blessed and honoured to know the author as a lovely friend. We've spent some really good times when we were in school. So many days spent in her home with her family...talking endlessly about so many things. One day wasn't enough, and we'd always be planning our next day out before the day could end. We lost touch over the years primarily because of the distance and time zones. But we have always got back in touch without questioning each other about our absence.
The release of her book made me feel so proud of her achievements even though I probably wasn't aware of what she had to go through to reach this far. Reading this book was an eye-opener and resonated with me so much more because of my own health that went downhill in early 2019. I feel bad for not being around her when she was going through these rough times. It's like she's poured her soul into this book. All that you read in this book will cast a spell and transport you to those places that she mentions. For me the book was in some ways like a healing potion. I could see similar reflections of myself in her.
The release of her book made me feel so proud of her achievements even though I probably wasn't aware of what she had to go through to reach this far. Reading this book was an eye-opener and resonated with me so much more because of my own health that went downhill in early 2019. I feel bad for not being around her when she was going through these rough times. It's like she's poured her soul into this book. All that you read in this book will cast a spell and transport you to those places that she mentions. For me the book was in some ways like a healing potion. I could see similar reflections of myself in her.
Read
January 14, 2021This book for me was emotionally demanding but thoroughly absorbing. The Weight of a Cherry Blossom is a lucid, sensitively written memoir--there were times when it felt like I was reading my own story, first as a child then as a parent, and it was not so much the writer's life experiences (though those echoes were there, too) as the sense of having been in the same head space myself for a good part of my life. It takes a lot of courage to write your suffering and expose/exorcise your demons and make yourself vulnerable before your readers. There were bits where Buddhavarapu's candour punched me in the gut and simply took my breath away. I’d recommend The Weight… to anyone looking for connection and empathy. I know the chapters I’ll keep going back to.
May 22, 2020
Loved this book. Related to so much of the author's life (in ways that were almost scarily similar!) and really appreciated this piece during the uncertainty of post-grad life. Beautifully written!
November 7, 2019
Engaging, Inspiring and absolutely Unputdownable
This has been probably the best book to end 2019. As you read on from page to page, every experience that Shruti has resonates emotionally with you on such a multi-dimensional level, that you don’t even realise at what point does that person on paper carves a space out in your heart and memory. Smooth story telling, with a non complex narrative, spread over multi-city experiences, this memoir at all times is both funny and poignant. You will laugh with her, you will definitely get teary eyed with her, but at no point would you want to pause and give rest to your mind going….what next?!
Any girl who has probably thought herself as too raw or volatile growing up with pain both physical and emotional will find this book as that comfortable hug you can sink into on a bad day.
At one point it reads “You start being kind to yourself” and for me that read as a reminder to be a little more grateful to the life given to you and just for that alone, I will always revisit this book time and again.
This has been probably the best book to end 2019. As you read on from page to page, every experience that Shruti has resonates emotionally with you on such a multi-dimensional level, that you don’t even realise at what point does that person on paper carves a space out in your heart and memory. Smooth story telling, with a non complex narrative, spread over multi-city experiences, this memoir at all times is both funny and poignant. You will laugh with her, you will definitely get teary eyed with her, but at no point would you want to pause and give rest to your mind going….what next?!
Any girl who has probably thought herself as too raw or volatile growing up with pain both physical and emotional will find this book as that comfortable hug you can sink into on a bad day.
At one point it reads “You start being kind to yourself” and for me that read as a reminder to be a little more grateful to the life given to you and just for that alone, I will always revisit this book time and again.
December 3, 2019
#bookreview
Title : The Weight of a Cherry Blossom
Author : Shruti Buddhavarapu
This is one of the good books I have read in this year. Some books leave an impression in our hearts, they are more an emotional journey along with protangonist than just a story which we complete in one or two days.
This is about life of Shruti, from her birth to the way she had spent her life in different cities, how she keep on moving from location to location, how she missed not having a best buddy. It was about her family, her relatives, her brother and her life.
Also Shruti,the protagonist suffer from PCOS and her treatment with different doctors are described in beautiful way. I love the cover page of the book, so amazing color. The narration of Author is too good that we feel we travelled along with protangonist to each and every place along with Author.
Title : The Weight of a Cherry Blossom
Author : Shruti Buddhavarapu
This is one of the good books I have read in this year. Some books leave an impression in our hearts, they are more an emotional journey along with protangonist than just a story which we complete in one or two days.
This is about life of Shruti, from her birth to the way she had spent her life in different cities, how she keep on moving from location to location, how she missed not having a best buddy. It was about her family, her relatives, her brother and her life.
Also Shruti,the protagonist suffer from PCOS and her treatment with different doctors are described in beautiful way. I love the cover page of the book, so amazing color. The narration of Author is too good that we feel we travelled along with protangonist to each and every place along with Author.
October 11, 2020
Beautiful book. Poignant and moving, and at the same time, hopeful and humorous. Anchored in weightlessness as Shruti Buddhavarupu says...
October 12, 2020
beautifully written. there are gems sprinkled throughout. your mood will wax and wane with the author's as you're transported spatially, temporally, and thematically by the prose.
August 4, 2020
Beautiful, simply.
July 3, 2024
Detailed review here - https://www.anuradhagoyal.com/the-wei...
August 25, 2022
A lovely read. As a former Vancouverite, I was happy to read about someone else’s similarly temporary experience in the city. Gentle, pensive, and kind. I recommend!
June 11, 2020
Shruti Buddhavarapu’s writing is soothing, smooth and unquestionably funny. She seamlessly weaves a story which makes you ache with empathy. You can feel her in her words, something which few authors achieve. From the moment I picked up the book, I knew this story would make me love myself a little more, and it did. Buddhavarapu touches on topics close to her heart and her memoir is familiar yet different. Sometimes you relate to her and sometimes you don’t, but you understand. The rootlessness she feels is felt by many of us and I feel this is the best anyone has ever explained that feeling of being away from home, feeling suspended between two places or more and being unsure of where you belong. This is the memoir of a thoughtful individual who is unafraid, honest and poignant.
She describes her struggle with PCOS, her mental health, her weight and the feeling of wanting to be held and loved, something we all experience.
Her story is simple, beautiful and provides just the right amount of comfort.
I absolutely enjoyed joining her as she navigated adult life, braving all the beauty and the struggle it brings.
I’d recommend this to everyone!
She describes her struggle with PCOS, her mental health, her weight and the feeling of wanting to be held and loved, something we all experience.
Her story is simple, beautiful and provides just the right amount of comfort.
I absolutely enjoyed joining her as she navigated adult life, braving all the beauty and the struggle it brings.
I’d recommend this to everyone!
June 30, 2020
This book is open and affectionate - the author inviting you warmly into her life and her heart. With no pretense to academic distance, Buddhavarapu examines her choices, her geographical and emotional travels, and her search for love and belonging with a keen and compassionate eye. She writes of pain and of healing without flinching, but not for a moment does she shrug them off. This is a story of living with immensity while documenting the tiny, the heartfelt and the seemingly mundane.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews