The Old Man and his God, by Sudha Murty — a review

Travel brings us experiences. Experiences bring observations on life. And we realize that life may not be as simple as we thought, or maybe it is. Sudha Murty, on her travels, records what people say to her. Their accounts on life and its meaning are put in this book for us to savor.

What she does so wonderfully well as usual is that she narrates without making things complicated. It’s simple in language and style, and very direct. It feels even like they are diary entries, and in a way, they are. The title story, The Old Man and his God looks to bring out the simple needs of an old, blind priest who Sudha Murty finds at a small temple. It brings out that money might not be everything to everyone. The Way You Look at It, the story brings about a look at perspectives. What one person found useful, the other didn’t. The Tale of Two Brothers touched a chord. It showed being related by blood isn’t important as long as you are intrigued by the heart, by love. These were some of my favorites from the book.

Do I agree with how she interprets the observations? Not always, no. But then again, she looks at it one way, and the way I look at the incident would be different after all.

The book is not just enjoyable to read, but also, inspiring with some of the stories in it. I rate it 3.5 or 4 stars.

Rated: 4 stars

Source: Library Copy

Reviewed by: Vinay Leo R.

Wise and Otherwise, by Sudha Murty

About the author:

Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon in north Karnataka. A prolific writer in English and Kannada, she has written nine novels, four technical books, three travelogues, one collection of short stories, three collections of non-fiction pieces and two books for children. Her books have been translated into all the major Indian languages and have sold over three lakh copies around the country. She was the recipient of the R.K. Narayan’s Award for Literature and the Padma Shri in 2006.

My thoughts on the book:

Life is a strange package at times. It is not strange because of its failures or successes, tears or smiles but because of people. In life’s journey, we come across different kinds of people, who make us stop and think about that strangeness. This book shows us some of these people, the incidents that Sudha has experienced in her trips as a social worker and brings to us fifty short vignettes of such witty and sometimes thought provoking incidents.

Human foibles like boasting of things we haven’t done when we have things to actually boast about, sticking to rules that were advised to us by those who have had experience of the same, or honesty from a heart that is innocent and grateful for things that have gone it’s way, each of these vignettes have something to say, something to make us wonder, and even sometimes touch our heart. There’s a tale of a girl who was sold by the boy he adored the most, her brother, and a tale of an uneducated woman being more sensible than an educated man. She brings out wit with an incident where a telegram worded the wrong way became a funny trouble and poignancy with the tale of a family who moved on after a death because the death made their life easier.

Read this book for it is a passage through human behavior, and infinite wisdom in thought and experience.

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My rating: 4 stars

Book details:
Title: Wise and Otherwise
Author: Sudha Murty
Genre: Non-Fiction/Inspirational
ISBN: 9780143062226
Publishers: Penguin Books
Price: INR. 250

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Reviewed by Leo

Shared with Indian Quills Reading Challenge at The Tales Pensieve.

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Sudha Murty - Mahashweta

Author:Sudha Murty
Price: 150 INR
ISBN: 978-0-143-10329-5

Synopsis(As given at the back of the book) :

"Anupama looked into the mirror and shivered with shock.

A small white patch had now appeared on her arm."

Anupama's fairy tale marriage to Anand falls apart when she discovers a white patch on her foot and learns she has leukoderma.

Abandoned by her uncaring in laws and insensitive husband, she is forced to return home to her fathers village.  The social stigma of a married woman living with her parents, her stepmothers continual barbs and ostracism that accompanies her skin condition forces her to contemplate suicide.  Determined to rebuild her life against all odds, Anupama goes to Bombay where she finds success,respect and the promise of an enduring friendship. 

Mahashweta is an inspiring story of courage and resilience in a world marred by illusions and betrayals. This poignant tale offers hope and solace to victims of the prejudices that govern society even today.

AaishanniA:

Mahashweta is a book which depicts how unpredictable life can be. Its shows us the hard side of life and inspires us to be a little bit more like the protagonist who strives to make her life better and happier even in her darkest hour.

The story starts by introducing a man who is a doctor, busy in the hospital saving lives and helping people. He is shown to be honest, caring, thoughtful and obviously handsome. The perfect prince charming.

Then the focus shifts to Anupama, a girl in her mid twenties who is selling tickets at her uncles (who is mutual friend between the two) house. Seeing the doctor well dressed, she assumes him to be rich enough afford more than one ticket. With her jolly attitude and charm she convinces the doctor to buy two tickets.

The next day, when she sees him in the audience, she is swayed in love. He is also carried away by her beauty. Its the perfect love story and they get married lavishly.

Two months later, Anupama's in a blissful state. In her wildest dreams she never thought that she, a poor village teachers daughter would get settled into such a wealthy family. She had the perfect husband who pampered her and treated her like a queen. Anand goes to England for a fellowship and Anupama is to join him in two months. It was too good to be true. 

That is the end of her happiness. She first finds a white patch on her ankle. Knowing her mother-in-law would disapprove she sneaks off to the doctor who confirms its leukoderma, a skin disease that is not contagious and nothing much to worry about. But Anupama knows its more than enough to create a ruse in her perfect life plan.

She hides it at first, thinking she would go to England and then tell Anand. But her mother in law finds out and sends her back to her fathers house in the village.She feels Anand would understand as he is a doctor but he never replies to the multiple messages she sends him. Being back in the village is  no consolation to her as her stepmother's taunts trouble her. After her stepsisters marriage is broken due to the family finding out about Anupama's condition, She feels guilty and decides to come to Bombay.

At first,she stays with her best friend and slowly she starts to feel depressed as  Anand has still not replied to her letters and her best friend's husband makes a move on her when they are alone. Nothing is going her way and that's when she contemplates suicide. Then she realizes she shouldn't end her life just because someone else's mentality is wrong. She gets a job and recovers from the pain she has unnecessarily been put through to come out as an independent woman who is proud and able to support herself.

Very few fiction novels cause us to look within ourselves and question our attitude toward a social issue. This is one of those books. It makes us wonder whether love is worth it or if it is just a cognitive illusion. Would you rather be independent alone than repressed together? Its a story that leaves you thinking long after you close the covers. 

The best past of the book in my opinion is the post script which explains how this simple story changed the life of one of the readers. After all don't all authors aspire for their stories to make an impact on someone and change their lives? That is exactly what Sudha Murty has accomplished with this book. Simple and well defined, a must read.

Rating : 5/5 

Mahashweta by Sudha Murty

You almost know the end of the book before you begin reading, some might call it predictable or boring, but read it still to live the pain that others go through when we think selfish and act mean to our loved ones. some times you need to read such stories only to realize how fortunate our lives are and how much more courage we need to succeed in what we desire.


More than the book, I was touched by one of the personal experience mentioned by Sudha Murthy at the end concerning this book.

 Synopsis : Anupama looked into the mirror and shivered with shock. A small white patch had now appeared on her arm.

Anupamas fairytale marriage to Anand falls apart when she discovers a white patch on her foot and learns that she has leukoderma. Abandoned by her uncaring in-laws and insensitive husband, she is forced to return to her fathers home in the village. The social stigma of a married woman living with her parents, her stepmothers continual barbs and the ostracism that accompanies her skin condition force her to contemplate suicide. Determined to rebuild her life against all odds, Anupama goes to Bombay where she finds success, respect and the promise of an enduring friendship.

Mahashweta is an inspiring story of courage and resilience in a world marred by illusions and betrayals. This poignant tale offers hope and solace to the victims of the prejudices that govern society even today.



Rating : 4/5

Other details

ISBN : 0143103296  

ISBN13: 9780143103295

Pages : 154

Price : 150