This third volume in the biography of an Indian lady and
her family brings home the reality of life for working
women in India of the 1960s. Anu had been allowed to go to
university by her civil servant father, and worked as a
teacher before marrying an Army officer. Idleness and
cheap
drink at the mess club were a bad combination and Anu left
Ramesh, taking their three little girls. ANU - THE YO-YO
YEARS picks up the story.
Anu fled to her mother's house with no money. Allahabad
was
a busy, mixed city, with the Slazenger tennis racquet
factory a major employer. Anu's family were Christian but
she had married a Hindu. While she was welcome, her
elderly
mother could not support the family and had other guests
at
times, so Anu needed both to move and to gain work. She
was
determined to home-school her daughters, especially after
Ramesh made an attempt to steal the girls back to him.
Court matters had to be got under way and to pay a lawyer
Anu was forced to sell her gold bangles. Her husband
refused to provide for the girls until they were under his
roof.
Gaining confidence Anu applied for jobs and found a
teaching post in Lucknow. The girls now went to this
school, having passed entrance tests with flying colours,
and Anu worked diligently, gaining respect and rising to
Vice-Principal. The school added more senior classes and
was a qualifying school for England's Cambridge
University.
Yet when the post of principal became vacant, Anu could
not
be considered as the school's constitution said that the
principal must be a man. Her status as a woman outside a
marriage made her suspect and friendly couples invited her
home less often, while girls could not travel alone in
safety.
I enjoyed particularly the energy and colour of the
account, with saris and modern clothes alike provided by
Anu's sister as once-worn items which the teacher put to
splendid use. The young girls grew up in many observable
ways and even started a business painting fabric, to
decorate saris, which was mentioned in a newspaper.
Having
seen that their mother was able to provide for them only
through the opportune education she had received, they
were
each determined to go to college themselves. While their
lives may have seemed full of study, India has so many
festivals, like Diwali, the Festival of Lights, that I
don't think anyone could be bored. Summer heat meant
sleeping in the garden under netting, while monsoon season
brought flooding with comical effects after an old-folks'
home was evacuated into Anu's school under her care, the
male principal having decamped at the first sign of rising
water.
With spicy foods from different locations, travel across
teeming India, brilliantly coloured saris and glittering
jewels, ANU - THE YO-YO YEARS is a feast for the senses.
Shabnam Vasisht is an artist and writer who now lives in
Ireland as she retells her family's story. The earlier
books are Anu - The Raj Years and Anu - The Nomad Years.
Together they gloriously depict India growing from a
colony
into a modern independent nation.
The long battle to extricate herself from an unhappy
marriage exposed Anu to many personal dangers , as well as
the constant terror of losing her three daughters .
Determined to bring up her children single-handedly, Anu
returned to work , starting at the bottom of the ladder
and quickly rising to the top of her career. However,
professional success, too, was eventually blighted by
disappointments and betrayals. Anu faced her challenges
with typical courage and faith, until circumstances forced
her to make a decision. But that's another story . . .
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