Dollar Bahu: A Review

Dollar Bahu (or Dollar Sose as originally titled in Kannada) has been written by Sudha Murty. For people like me, who belong to the IT background, Sudha ma'am is an icon. A computer scientist and engineer in her early career she was one of the first female employees at Infosys which was founded by her husband Mr. N.R. Narayan Murty. Now-a-days she keeps herself busy in philanthropic work through the Infosys foundation.

Sudha Murthy has written many stories, mostly published by Penguin, which deal with common lives and her views on donations, hospitality and realization. I first came across the current book in the hands of a grey haired lady in her late sixties or early seventies while I was in the waiting lounge of Indira Gandhi airport on the way to my home. It was the title that caught my attention. 'Dollar Bahu', as the name suggests is about the dollar and a bahu and soon I had the book in my hands.

Set between Bangalore and USA with Dharwad sprinkled a bit in the start and a bit in the end the book is about an average Indian family. Gouramma and Shamanna live in a small house with their children. The elder son, Chandru, has dreams of making it big while the younger one, Girish, is happy and content with his job as a bank clerk. The daughter, Surabhi, is a happy-go-lucky person not concerned much about the world around her except for her own needs and desires. Shamanna has been a school teacher all his life and has no frills or laces attached with his life. The mother Gauramma (Gauri) however has dreams that her sons will make it big and she would also be able to flaunt her family's fortunes in front of others.

Gauramma's dreams finally come true when Chandru goes to the USA for a project and decides to 'skip' i.e. to switch jobs without informing his employer in India and living in low profile until he gets a green card. Chandru helps Gauramma's dreams become a reality and also in adding another floor to his house. Girish gets married while Chandru is in USA and the irony is that he gets married to one time romantic interest of Chandru, a girl called Vinuta from the small town of Dharwad.

After getting his green card Chandru comes back to India and gets married to Jamuna, a not-so-simple girl from a rich family in an arranged marriage. From here starts the comparison between Vinuta and Jamuna and without any doubt Jamuna is Gauramma's favorite due to her husband earning in dollars. Vinuta, the one who stays with her in-laws, cares for them, devotes herself to their service and daily needs is compared time and again with someone who visits once in years and whose only contribution towards the family is a monthly check from her husband.

The author has very well described the plight of Vinuta and the circumstances she has to face. Girish is the usual Indian husband, oblivious to the talents of his wife while Shantanna is a mere spectator for most of the part. All these characters are so close to reality that this could have been the story of a family from any part of India.

All other things apart it is the character of Gauramma which towers over the rest by the time you reach the end of the book. The old age proverb of 'Grass is greener on the other side' is something that Gauramma gets to experience first hand. When she goes to America she has expectations and one by one all her expectations are sent for a toss by her beloved Dollar bahu. Slowly but surely Gauramma realizes that America is not where she wants to be. She wants to be in India, at her home with her family.

In the process of that realization Gauramma comes across many faces of the Indians living in USA and the problems that they encounter while living there. The cheated ones, the lonely ones, the ones split between the two cultures and quite a few more. Through Gauramma, the author explores many faces of life in America, something which most of us have heard about and some of us have had first hand experience of it.

The author leaves quite a few things for the reader to think over by the time one finishes with the book.

Is money the sole ingredient of a happy life? No, you would say instantly, but just think for a moment and then ask yourself if you are doing things any differently from others.

Does money manage your relationships, life, way of thinking and you in totality? Yes, may be it is.

The book is very predictable and obvious. There are times when you would know what to expect on turning to the next page. Quite a few characters are stereo-typical but still it is a good read for someone desperately seeking something to do on one of those 4 hour flights or the train journey from say Delhi to Agra.

It is definitely not for someone who believes America is the true heaven on earth.

A must read for the would-be mother-in-law to dollar bahu's though!