Deepika V

Kerala is my favorite destination in this world! I have visited Kerala multiple times covering all its districts but still I can go there so many more times! Malayali is just not a word but an emotion and 'The Covenant of water' did right in delivering the emotion that is carried from generations in a right way while also showcasing the simple life and believes of Keralites. My first through as I held the book was, ooohh 720 pages! but then this book sails through three generations and also connects two countries at a cause of solving a mysterious genetic disorder. I would have not withdrawn from the book even if it had been 1000 pages too!. You don't know the name of the protagonist till you go 3/4th of the book! when the name comes at an important moment, it strikes like a thunder. Such an amazing storyline covering huge topics about child marriage, colonization, medical findings, love-beyond-marriage, Hansen's disease (If not this book, I would have written leprosy), Naxalites, castes, genetic conditions, women in medical, artist, feminism etc. Though I sailed from characters to characters, I made a family that I adore and wanted to be with while reading this book, its such comfort that the book provided. Big Ammachi is my fa Stereotype breakers: - Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in Law relation. Elisa and Big-Ammachi's relationship was so soothing and both of them having each others back and the love for Elisa and Baby Mol is also so comforting. - Married girls take over kitchen. Elisa continued with her art after her marriage Big ammachi took care of the kitchen, which definitely is uncommon looking at the society decades ago. - Man who marry at 40 are not....... (You might fill it). Big Ammachi at age 12 is married to 40 years old widower, my initial thought was that he might be a not-so-good character but turns out he is so gentle and great man! - Not ever Naxalite is a law-breaker! some who are meant to guard the law break it mostly. - Women are not always women's enemies. Mariamma could trust Akila and Dr. Uma ramasamy with her secret. Also, how Anna Chedethi, Odat Kochamma become a family at Parambil is beautiful. - Girl child is a hope too. Except Philipose, everyone elevated their hopes about the little on and eventually Philipose became so much good for little Mariamma. There are so many moments in this book that I was awestruck with and While reading the acknowledgements, I appreciated and respect Abraham Verghese for all the research that he has done to come up with a masterpiece like 'the Covenant of water' and he has also derived so many quotes from other books (As per the notes in the last 3 pages), this book is surely a journey and Hats off to Abraham. Some of my favorite quotes are: "Its fiction! fiction is the great lie that tell the truth about how the world lives!". About child birth - "Men like to think that woman forget the pain upon seeing the blessed baby. No. A woman forgives the child, and she might even forgive the father. But she never forgets." "I never liked that Christianity begins by telling we are all sinners" "I love literature. with these books I can sail seven seas and chase a white whale." "We don't have children to fulfill our dreams. Children allow us to let go of the dream that we were never meant to fulfill" "The voyage of discovery isn't about new lands but having new eyes" "Bent and broken, but in better shape" "All water is connect, only land and people are discontinues" "What defines a family isn't blood but the secrets they share" Hopefully, the shores of Mahabalipuram witnessed a love story uncover in its laps.

I have not ever thought so much before penning down my thoughts on this book. I am looking for words, perspectives and my feeling about this book which feels very personal to me and may be I must accept how the story of the book goes. I would have really loved to read the story through Hassan's view rather than Amir (Main character). I did not like Amit so well from the beginning and even in the ending he could have delt better with Sohrab after bringing him back to Pakistan. I do not appreciate that Amir's father had hidden a huge truth despite his philosophy about lie. There could have been better weightage on the female characters like Soraya, or her mother and Farzana because there life seemed revolving around a square. This is a very personal view. If I had to recommend anyone about reading this I surely shall because the life of Afghanistan's deserves to be known, sympathized and appreciated for all that they went/go through

I enjoyed reading this book, though I found it bit difficult to adapt at the beginning. The book speaks about lesser known Greek Goddess. This book also gave me so many information about the so many unspoken events in Greek mythology. Very mysterious, informative and gripping! Loved the whole book.

Like many Indians, the stories that my grandparents choose to pass our time was from the Mahabaratha or Ramayan. The tradition of passing the stories were from generations and every household herd the stories and glorified the male characters in the epics and the female characters were so secondary even if they were worshiped as house deity like my family where we worship Panchali to protect our clan. Even before reading the book, I had never thought at ones about shifting the perspective to female centric despite we offer our annual rituals to Panchali to guard our homes and protect every members of our clan! This was no different from the epic also retained the original story line and still broadened the epic with weighing better on the female characters. I wish my mother, grand -mother and ever woman I knew from the previous generations too read to have a deeper understanding and to find a perspective change on Mahabaratha.

Wow! This is the best book I have ever read till now in my life! I am not even exaggerating, it really is the best book I have come across so far. The characters of the book are so deep, so much has happened to every individual you comes across, you will adore them and they preserver and then there is a silver lining in their clouds, except for the protagonist's boyfriend! but may be, death is independence too!!! The book was like watching an amazing sit-com and it does get personal. I have gifted all my friend who read, a copy of this book because it deserves to be known. An amazing book for the ages.