Talk about ‘”hot off the press’” This book had barely left the publisher and this girl Anjali had it in her hand. You would think she’d be thrilled with it. But surprise! She wasn’t. I was skulking in the background while she threw a right hissy fit and flung the book at her door. The reason? She wanted a Barbie doll! Whhattt! I asked myself before I dived, caught the book mid-air, and snuck under the bed.
What can I say? A brilliant book, indeed. The story is set in Mysore in 1932 and takes you through the eventful few months from May to September. The story begins innocuously enough with a little girl sneaking back into the house. But with this introduction you immediately fall in love with her, because you know she is up to something.
The protagonist is Leela who is on the verge of finishing her primary school. She is eager for information about the man people call Gandhiji, about his talks and the freedom movement. But adults stop talking about it whenever she is there and it is exasperating for her. Her only source of information is her teacher Shivappa Meshtru. Through him she finds a thread and then, latching on tight, she manages to get closer to the mystery that is Gandhiji and learn more about the man and the movement.
It is after she makes her acquaintance with Malathi Akka that she gets to learn more about what the “movement” is about. Suddenly, without her even realising it, she becomes a part of it.
I love the way the author has brought in all the traditional Mysorean dishes like akki roti, huli, uppittu, dodpatretambuli and more. I don’t know what these are made of or how they taste but, when I read about Leela enjoying these dishes, my stomach rumbled loudly. Of course, Anjali set up a wail and everyone was in the room. Then I heard the familiar cry, “There’s a monster under my bed!” Adults never believe that there is monster under the bed, so they did a perfunctory look under the bed and gave the all clear.
Music too is subtly interwoven into the story, though that might seem obvious to you from the title. However, I thought it was a nice touch to mention musicians like Bangalore Nagarathnamma, M.S. Subbalakshmi, Mallikarjun Mansur and more. Also, for the uninitiated, there is an introduction to different bhajanes. Some of them were familiar as I had learnt them in school and, without realising it, I broke into song. I heard groaning and moaning and stopped immediately before yet another fiasco.
Leela is also flummoxed by the mysteries that surround her. Why has Ajji become so possessive about her vegetable patch? Or, why is Subba’s fingers always ink stained? Why has Appa sent her a magazine to read? Will she find answers to these questions?
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