BOOK TITLE: The
Withering Banyan
ISBN: 978-9352013135
AUTHOR: Hyma
Goparaju
GENRE: Fiction
NUMBER OF PAGES: 358
FORMAT: Paperback
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone
REVIEW BY: Dhivya
Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: I
thank Sandeep Sharma of Author Paradise for this review copy J
SUMMARY:
A well-to-do business family, whose
members are torn apart by a turbulent father-son relationship shrouded in
mistrust, suspicion, and contempt for one another a result of the vagaries of
the son's mind and its maladies suffers silently. Well-wishers fear that Badri
is suffering from a mental derangement, and is on the brink of wiping away his
father, Siveswara's hard-earned fame and fortune. Unaware of the boundless
periphery of its affliction, descendants of the five-generation lineage are
confounded with an enigmatic and stigmatizing battle of their lifetime which
they have to decode and overcome in order to ensure the well-being of the
ensuing generations.
REVIEW:
Withering Banyan is a good take on a rarely spoken about
issue.
First Impression:
The Withering Banyan – impressive
title, intriguing cover. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when
you think of a banyan? It is stately, sturdy, spreading its branches far and
wide, staying on its roots for decades, sometimes centuries… Now picture a withering banyan. Going gnarly at the
trunk, with brownish leaves and defining the phrase ‘going to seed’.
The cover is that of a banyan tree,
and it looks simple, elegant and makes me want to pick up the book and peruse
the writing. The summary is succinct, with enough intrigue factor and
background information to actually interest the reader.
A little background information:
(sourced from Wikipedia)
What is Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder
often characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to recognize what
is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking,
auditory hallucinations, reduced social engagement and emotional expression,
and lack of motivation. Diagnosis is based on observed behavior and the
person's reported experiences.
What is the suggested /
expected treatment?
The mainstay of treatment is
antipsychotic medication, which primarily suppresses dopamine receptor
activity. Counseling, job training and social rehabilitation are also important
in treatment. In more serious cases—where there is risk to self or
others—involuntary hospitalization may be necessary, although hospital stays
are now shorter and less frequent than they once were.
What is actually done?
The disease is often ignored and
mostly misunderstood, the patients are feared and sometimes ostracised from the
society. The family of the affected patients, though sympathetic to their
condition, believe that the cure often lies in religious prayers and offerings.
It is still a taboo in many parts of the country to seek psychiatric help.
Though things are looking up, and the number of people boldly going to seek
help is increasing, it is still considered an insult to the family honour in
most places.
What is this story about?
Before I took up the book, the summary
and the whole withering banyan analogy captured my attention. The first chapter
about a woman (Natya’s mother) breaking a mirror to kill the evil woman who was
tormenting her. Nothing says the severity of Schizophrenia like this scene.
From then on, the book follows Natya’s arrival in India, to her maternal house.
The Marri family, once successful
businessmen now going to seed because of a genetic illness, is plagued by
doubt, suspicion and gossips about mental derangement fuelled by a strained
father son relationship. The solution to Natya’s (and everyone else’s) problem
lies in finding out where the once successful family went wrong and what is the
root cause of all this trouble.
The main story deals with the fact
that most people in our country do not treat mental illnesses the same way they
treat physical illnesses. While something like depression is a clinically
recognised mental illness in the western countries, here it is brushed off as
‘feeling down in the dumps – will be okay after getting married / scenery
change / difference in food / immersing in work / being bogged down by family
responsibilities…’ and so on and so forth.
Written in chapters alternating in
past and present, the withering banyan is a slow eye opener for a very
prevalent but sadly rarely spoken about disease in a sensitive manner. The
language is, thankfully, devoid of many errors and the author’s prowess comes
through, being the saving grace of the book with such a sensitive subject. I
really loved the poems too.
The few complaints I had were as
follows. The book seems way too long and time consuming for just 350 odd pages.
Some parts are description heavy and some incidents and explanations are
repetitive. This might derail the story from the main focal point. As is the
way of someone strong in words, the thoughts wander and start visualising
instead of grasping what the story is about. A little more medically termed
explanation of Schizophrenia and its various symptoms would have made this book
complete for those who do not know what the disease is all about.
Overall, a great book to read and treasure. Don’t be bogged down by the description
heavy scenes.
WHAT I LIKED:
·
The concept of discussing a mental
illness – it is much needed.
·
The storyline and the amazingly
smooth transition between past and the present.
·
Not being shy to talk about a taboo
topic and instead weaving it so beautifully into the story.
·
Not portraying people affected by
the disease as ill people and instead showing readers how actually brilliant
they might be.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
·
Though it seems unavoidable, the
length could have been reduced slightly to ensure casual readers do not lose
interest.
·
No other major complaints other than
the occasionally slow pace of the book.
VERDICT:
·
A must read book. It speaks about how hard a family can be affected
by a genetic disease and why it is essential to adapt to and make use of modern
medicine / therapy.
·
It is rare for such books to be
written in this day of quick selling romances and ‘he saw her, she saw him,
they fought, they realised and got together’ type of books with subpar
language.
RATING: 4.1/5 (Points
taken for length and pace)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Hyma Goparaju is
a management professional based in Hyderabad. She dabbled quite a lot in
creative writing while at school and college, which remained dormant for a long
time to come until she took the plunge to pen her first novel, The Withering
Banyan . She hopes to write more.
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback,
Kindle
PRICE: Rs.
295 for Paperback, Rs. 244.15 for Kindle
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