First Person

by Priya Tendulkar

Paperback

First published January 15, 2005

About the author

Priya Tendulkar (1954–2002)was an actress, social activist and a writer of Marathi origin, who is most known for her eponymous role in the television series Rajani.

Reviews

[Purvaa✍️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are all short stories. These are written in a very simple manner. Anyone can read this book n can understand it. The author has shared her complaints, desires, good n bad experiences, thoughts, etc. Some of the related topics are: about a Mumbaikar n Delhi Wala ( I truly believe that the life in Mumbai is surrounded by work), politicians (who can talk about false statements very confidently n fearless), Rains in Mumbai (which every year every Mumbaikar facing age-old problems), bmc working conditions, KBC (due to this how channel programs have changed), celebrating various festivals in mumbai (every Mumbaikar celebrates each festival very enthusiastically, whatever the condition would be), bapu n cleanliness on road (especially toilets, which is the most worst part in India), disturbing situations faced by Dr. Shailendra Joshi, pros n cons of mobile phone, every citizen who has voted has full right to speak against the system, every young boy or girl wants to work n settle in US (then what about India), should start asking the questions, studies n exams (faced by every child n more by parents), thoughts of Shri. Stephan Hawking (brilliant mind but more different life that he lived), alot are more act, see or hear or do criminal activities (due to intolerance, inferiority complex, etc), politicians with their actual behavior with their family members, every successful n career-oriented women are asked the same questions or every indian girl is facing the same (as mentioned in the book), n lastly crystal clear insights of tihar incident (I feel that it was too much details).

[Madhura Gurav · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be a little partial to Priya. But, I've simply loved all her work. Her short story collections in Marathi are simply amazing. Anyway, getting back to First Person; it's a compilation of her articles that appeared weekly in Bombay Times from July 2000 to March 2001. They are mostly about the contemporary social issues. Also, Priya captures the vivid personalities of people from the different strata of the society in a humorous way. Reading them now makes me go back to those times. Although, I was very young at the time, I'd some idea about the happenings in our surroundings, many of which I came to understand couple of years later. And, many of her musings are still relevant! Especially those pertaining to 'Mumbai Monsoons', 'political scenario' and the 'dual nature of people', to name a few. Overall, it's a great read for her hard-core fans like me. Also, for those who are interested in the social, economic and political issues of the new millennium!