Stories of Resilience: Giving Voice to the Unheard

Stories of Resilience by Ramendra Kumar is available on Amazon

SUMMARY

Stories of Resilience is a brave attempt to bring light upon the suffering and abuse of millions of young girls in India’s slums. It explains the irredeemable acts made by society on the false grounds of superstitions and incorrect beliefs, and the perseverance and courage of several girls who defied all the odds and for a change, fought back.

But the book is not just about these girls, although their bravery and spirit are inspiring.

It shows that there are always people who care, who will help you get through your darkest times, and be there for you when you need them. It shows that though our world is harsh and cruel, we still have our humanity, however little. The volunteers at Protsahan are selfless, and put aside their own lives to help improve the lives of others.

Life breaks us. Each and every one of us. We do not get to choose if we get hurt or not. But we can be mended. We mend each other, and this book is an astounding example of how survivors of abuse and volunteers at an NGO get together and learn how to live, to pick up the pieces of their broken lives and make them into something beautiful, into a life worth living.

The book printed on art paper has beautiful illustrations for each story done by artist Kirti Bhardwaj.

REVIEW

First of all, I would like to say that the writer’s purpose for publishing the book is what made it extremely special. The fact that he wanted to give a voice to those who remained unheard, and genuinely seemed to care about the girls in need, and spread the word about the torture and suffering they are going through really makes an impact.

The writing was very simple in its own way, with the movement of the dialogues and splitting of chapters, however, it came through as elegant and persuasive.

I liked that each girl has her own story, different from all the others and that her personal struggle is highlighted, whether its having to overcome the influence of drugs or recover mentally from physical abuse. Although the stories of the several girls are varying, one common thread links them all. Even if they have all experienced awful things in their lives, it’s the fact that they did not let it defeat them, they did not back off, which was subtly underlined through the entire book, which I really liked. That they were linked not because of the misfortunes that had befallen them, but the way they reacted to them, with determination and hope

What I also liked is the character development of each individual in each short story.

For example, in the case of Asha, her issues with her anger, her feeling of helplessness and rage, her confession to Janet, her gradual healing, were all explained beautifully.

Also, the story of Prerna, whose parents constantly fought, resorting even to violence, touched my heart because I have friends with divorced parents and I know how badly it can hurt.

Overall, I would say that the book is very powerful and moving, and is capable of opening people’s eyes to the horror and chaos in the lives of their fellow members of society, which they make a point to ignore.

About Ramendra Kumar

Ramendra Kumar

Ramendra Kumar (Ramen) is a children’s writer with 37 books to his name. He has won 31 awards in the competition for writers of children’s literature organised by Children’s Book Trust (CBT), over the years. He also dabbles in satire, poetry, fiction and travelogues. His writings have been translated into 15 Indian and 14 foreign languages and have also found a place in text books, as well as national and international anthologies. A much sought after inspirational speaker and story teller, Ramen has been invited to participate in several conferences and festivals. These include the IBBY Congress of Children’s Writers in Denmark (2008) & Greece (2018) and Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (2019), apart from many literary events across the country. In the Congress held in Greece he was the only writer from India to be invited to chair two sessions. An Engineer and an MBA, Ramen is working as General Manager, Public Relations, SAIL, Rourkela Steel Plant. He is the father of two children who are bonsai celebrities in their own right. While Ankita is a youth icon and a travel blogger with an Instagram following of 68K, Aniket creates cool Apps and designs covers for his Dad’s books. Website: www.ramendra.in

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About the Author

Ananya Raghu ( 1 Post)

Ananya Raghu is a book lover, a short story writer and a poet. Her writing has been published in several newspapers and magazines and she is the runner-up of TOI’s nation-wide Write India Contest. When she doesn’t have her nose buried in a book, she’s probably listening to music or playing basketball. Ananya is passionate about art and believes in writing that has meaning. She loves animals and crazy poetry, although not necessarily in that order.
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