“A mother always knows.” Yes, but do all mothers?
‘The Journey Behind Those Sparkling Eyes’ by Smitha Nair tries to answer this question.
A maths teacher by profession and blogger by passion, Smitha draws inspiration from her teenage years spent in Nagaland. Thus is born her novel, a tribute to its core character, Bodhini.
Smitha deftly uses the culture, landscape and people to ease the reader into her mind — to relive her memory.
One day, her father took a daring stand to care for the homeless girl ‘Bodhini’. That one decision seemed to shift the course of multiple lives.
The narrator paints an elaborate and vivid sketch of two families with contrasting livelihoods.
From the beginning, the book sets a nostalgic tone. And things go smoothly, but we naturally expect for the other shoe to drop. It does happen, with the arrival of a guest, Bodhini’s mother.
When the family decides to send Bodhini to school, the reader is also filled with hope. But here it plays the role of a rain cloud in the desert, showering ever so slightly even though they were in the Naga hills.
Topics of child marriage and abuse are discussed explicitly, as unexpected news is revealed.
“Her eldest sister got married at this age only,” Bodhini’s mother says, pointing at a barely 14-year-old Bodhini. Smitha carefully points to the social stigma and exclusion faced by women like Bodhini, whose free will is always taken away by society.
“Why take this unnecessary headache? These beggars are ungrateful brats,” Smitha’s neighbours comment, showing the prejudice Bodhini had to face even after getting a chance to rewrite her destiny.
However, what is not explored is the motivations and sacrifices of Bodhini’s mother. The reader yearns to know more about how this single mother raised her children.
With simple language and limited illustrations, the short work is suitable for all ages. It can be completed in one stretch.
How long can a perilous journey be if one is ready to mend their foot to walk further? The author says, “An unyielding heart is never truly defeated”.
As we see two mothers and their motivations, and the life of children like Bodhini, sometimes more questions are raised than answers. Here too, we are left wondering. After all, that is life.
This story was reported by Hemanth S Ramesh for TNIE - Kerala.