Why a Booktrail?
1980s: In a land where skin colour can determine your destiny, two sisters fight for what they believe in.
Tell A Thousand Lies
What you need to know before your trail
Three sisters are brought up by their grandmother who wants to find each of them a husband. One sister is destined already. This is the India way of life and so it’s important to find good matches but one of the sisters, Pullama is deemed to be ‘too dark’ and not pretty enough to be considered attractive in 1980s India.But Pullama is keen to find a husband and make something of her life, she’s not interested in an education as much as her sister, she wants what’s expected of her. Lata on the other hand, wants to study and break free that way.Two sisters with two very different paths in life and no where they can escape.
Travel Guide
Marriage in India is very different to the Western world with girls expected to marry for honour and status. The caste system is heavily entrenched in society and the importance of each of them having a dowry is seen as paramount. Poor Pullamma seen to be not pretty enough and without the dowry she needs, as the family can not afford to marry off all three sisters.
The contrast between Pullamma and Lata’s lives is clear – Pullamma’s role in life is to cook and clean, feed the animals, and generally look after the family. “ Do her duty like a good Indian girl” for example. She sadly has to underperform at school in order to relax her family’s worries that she might try to avoid her duty. Lata is somewhat of the black sheep of the family – for she wants to study medicine but she is drawn or rather forced back into line. Such painful and devastating results. Neither sister can live the life she wants to.
This is an insight into Indian culture and the role, the duty Indian women must pay. The contrast between the Western way of life, the freedoms, the opportunities and the plight of women who don’ have a choice is immense.
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