A Calendar Too Crowded: Book Review

Sagarika Chakraborty’s ‘A Calendar Too Crowded’ is more than just a book. It is a rather a diary of any girl’s life. My friend called this book as a reflection of a woman, and honestly, I couldn't agree more with it.

This thought-provoking book is a collection of poignant stories and moving poems which does not just make you think but also helps you to learn few important dates in the calendar of the life of a woman. The stories/poems in this book are classified into twelve months. Also, the book has a strong influence of Indian Mythology.

Basically, the book revolves around womanhood and it showcases the miseries faced by women. Few stories are touching; few stories actually brought tears into my eyes; few stories made me rejoice. These stories bring out the various facets in the life of a woman. It is safe to say that this book is not read for the sake of reading but it educates us. Yes, it does. Trust me!

The stories that I love the most are ‘Finding an Ideal Mother for my Unborn Child’ which talks about the things that our mothers do in our everyday life and the extent to which they can do and it showcases the typical mentality of a mother; ‘When the Ganges Ran Dry’ is one story that reminds me of my grandmother every time I read it; ‘Selling a Body to Gain a Mind’ is an intense story of a prostitute and her wonderful daughter; ‘The Homecoming’ is a story of a happy woman who has a lovable husband but everything changes when she sees this man who was her lover when she was young but eventually she makes the right choice; ‘Sisters by Choice and not by Chance’ is a story of two sisters who are excessively loved by their parents and how one of the sisters gets to know that she is an adopted child. This thing changes her life entirely; ‘Can You Hear Me, Ma?’ is a poem of an unborn daughter talking to her mother; ‘The Priceless Gift called Nationality’ is a story that teaches us the value of nationality.

In an era where we talk about equality and humanity, I believe that it should start from home. Everyday our mothers go through a lot of pain and do mammoth tasks of work to raise us and many a times, we tend to ignore our mothers. If we do not respect the woman of our own family, how can we respect others to respect them? This book says that women are equal to men and they should be treated properly and most importantly, it teaches us to respect women. I recommend every person, especially men to read this book.

And Sagarika, congratulations for writing such a wonderful book that can act as a guide of a woman’s life. Never felt that it was a debut book of a writer. Bravo!

Author: Sagarika Chakraborty

Publisher: Niyogi Books

Price: 295/-

I have reviewed this book for Scoop magazine here! :)