Karnataka-born Indian writer Sudha Murty, famous for novels like House of Cards, Mahasweta, Dollar Bahu, children’s classics, and a Collection of short stories, is a prolific personality. It is astonishing how, being the Infosys Foundation chairperson, she probes so deeply into the human heart. Gently Falls the Bakula by Sudha Murty is a heartening read for every reader. Another famous novel that touches my heart is Mahasweta.
The story of Gently Falls the Bakula by Sudha Murty opens with an easy flow, telling the story of a genius girl and boy from two different families who are fiercely antagonistic toward each other. But consequently, they fall in love. Their love deepens with the fragrance of tiny little ‘ Bakula flowers. Shrimati, the symbol of purity, love, sacrifice, and calmness, gets absorbed with the self-effacing flower ‘Bakula’ that she always wears in her hair, and Shrikant associates her with it in every aspect. He asks her to write him a letter when he moves to Bombay for his higher studies. Shrimati encloses a tiny Bakul in every letter. Eventually, they got married, despite every adversity from their house. Shrimati, the brightest student, sacrifices her career, her thirst for knowledge, and her yearning for the History of India for Lord Asoka, Goutam Buddha, and Vikramaditya, as at a point in her life she feels ‘Sir, I do love history, but I love Shrikant as well ‘, perhaps more. She sacrifices her sensibility, her aspiration, and her sensitivity to help Shrikant climb the corporate ladder, higher and higher, to the highest rung. But everything has a limit, and Shrimati crosses the limit of sacrifice.
In the course of her life, she feels lonely and detached, with no child, no lover, and perhaps no husband who cares a fig for her. She does not aspire to materialism; she asks for love, simplicity, profound knowledge, and spirituality.
But she is taken for granted. Everyone uses her calm, docile self, including her husband and her in-laws. They never love her; they only taunt her and make her suffer.
The storytelling style and easy flow of language touch readers’ hearts easily. The ending is really heart-touching when Shrikant loses his Shrimati. But how? ‘Shrimati, who had walked with him side by side in the same Shravan rain for ten years, had now left him all alone. ” Why?
There is no braggadocio of Language, no bubble of hobnob society. The symbolic ‘Bakul flower’ keeps spreading its mild fragrance all over the novel. It must be said that sophisticated simplicity is the logo of this novel.
I thank and express my regard to the writer for such a precious gift that brings unfathomable pleasure to read. It soothes the heart with the pure refreshment of thought and lyrical provocation. I hope whoever picks up the copy will be enlightened with real pleasure and contemplation. Sudha Murty’s Gently Falls the Bakula reminds me of another Eminent writer, Perumal Murugan, whose novel Poonachi won my heart.
Its an amazing journey with Sudha Murty
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