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Anu #3
Anu: The Yo-Yo Years
Third volume in the biography of Anu Vasisht.
The long battle to extricate herself from an unhappy marriage exposed Anu to many personal dangers , as well as the constant terror of losing her three daughters . Determined to bring up her children single-handedly, Anu returned to work , starting at the bottom of the ladder and quickly rising to the top of her career. However, professional success, too, was eventually blighted by disappointments and betrayals. Anu faced her challenges with typical courage and faith, until circumstances forced her to make a decision. But that's another story . . .
The long battle to extricate herself from an unhappy marriage exposed Anu to many personal dangers , as well as the constant terror of losing her three daughters . Determined to bring up her children single-handedly, Anu returned to work , starting at the bottom of the ladder and quickly rising to the top of her career. However, professional success, too, was eventually blighted by disappointments and betrayals. Anu faced her challenges with typical courage and faith, until circumstances forced her to make a decision. But that's another story . . .
- GenresNonfiction
244 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2014
105 people want to read
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January 31, 2015
This is a less light-hearted biography than the first two, but with plenty of colour, bustle and contrast.
The third volume picks up after Anu has left her Army officer husband Ramesh, and taken their three young daughters. Not only did this brave woman travel across India to her mother's home in Allahabad and decide to raise and school the girls herself, she engaged lawyers and determinedly fought in courts to get a judicial separation and custody of the children. Ramesh was obdurate in his refusal to pay for the girls' care unless they lived with him. Anu has to win anyone's admiration for her actions, occurring as they did in 1960s India.
The fact of having gained a university education now enabled Anu to teach and after a succession of small jobs she gained work in a Christian school in Lucknow. Her status as a woman outside her marriage did not affect her at this time but could have closed many doors. Later it did affect friendships. Anu's own family relationships were constrained as her widowed mother could not support her and the girls were not able to wander as they pleased, for fear Ramesh would kidnap them. He made more than one attempt but as the girls definitely did not want to go, it seems to have been more of a control issue than anything.
Some incidents in the little family's life are extremely funny, such as when an old-folks' home was evacuated into the school where Anu was vice-principal during monsoon flooding. The individual saris worn by Anu are remembered fondly, some gifts and some handed down from her sister, while we are continually presented with varieties of food particular to an area or eaten during a festival. Anu bought many small items for her girls such as inexpensive jewellery to occupy them and compensate for the studious, occasionally fraught lifestyle they had to lead. The girls, in turn, seem to have adopted solidarity and entertained themselves by starting a fabric-painting business, or studying hard to go to college in turn.
While there is emphasis on minutiae, this is the only way Anu could prove that she was a good mother in the face of Ramesh's allegations that she was raising the girls badly. She started out scared but determined, and ended up a strong survivor and fantastic role model. ANU - THE YO-YO YEARS is wonderfully inspirational. I love the photos which include Anu meeting the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, and the three lovely girls as teenagers. I will be keen to see how the story continues.
I should add that I think this is the only book I've read in the last couple of years where I did not pick up a single proofreading error.
The third volume picks up after Anu has left her Army officer husband Ramesh, and taken their three young daughters. Not only did this brave woman travel across India to her mother's home in Allahabad and decide to raise and school the girls herself, she engaged lawyers and determinedly fought in courts to get a judicial separation and custody of the children. Ramesh was obdurate in his refusal to pay for the girls' care unless they lived with him. Anu has to win anyone's admiration for her actions, occurring as they did in 1960s India.
The fact of having gained a university education now enabled Anu to teach and after a succession of small jobs she gained work in a Christian school in Lucknow. Her status as a woman outside her marriage did not affect her at this time but could have closed many doors. Later it did affect friendships. Anu's own family relationships were constrained as her widowed mother could not support her and the girls were not able to wander as they pleased, for fear Ramesh would kidnap them. He made more than one attempt but as the girls definitely did not want to go, it seems to have been more of a control issue than anything.
Some incidents in the little family's life are extremely funny, such as when an old-folks' home was evacuated into the school where Anu was vice-principal during monsoon flooding. The individual saris worn by Anu are remembered fondly, some gifts and some handed down from her sister, while we are continually presented with varieties of food particular to an area or eaten during a festival. Anu bought many small items for her girls such as inexpensive jewellery to occupy them and compensate for the studious, occasionally fraught lifestyle they had to lead. The girls, in turn, seem to have adopted solidarity and entertained themselves by starting a fabric-painting business, or studying hard to go to college in turn.
While there is emphasis on minutiae, this is the only way Anu could prove that she was a good mother in the face of Ramesh's allegations that she was raising the girls badly. She started out scared but determined, and ended up a strong survivor and fantastic role model. ANU - THE YO-YO YEARS is wonderfully inspirational. I love the photos which include Anu meeting the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, and the three lovely girls as teenagers. I will be keen to see how the story continues.
I should add that I think this is the only book I've read in the last couple of years where I did not pick up a single proofreading error.
Displaying 1 of 1 review