Story of you, me and Kim Ji -Young

 Kim Ji-Young is a thirty-something woman in Korea. She had to give up on her job after her baby was born. The baby is now old enough to join a daycare center for a couple of hours now. Which means she can now look for a part-time job now. But that won't be easy in that economy and that society which still regards women second class,citizens.  This affects her mental health. 

Kim Ji-Young has been facing discrimination since the day she was born. Her mother had a sex-based abortion when she was pregnant with her third child. Her brother had toys and food to himself while she and her sister needed to share. When she grew up, her teacher told her the boy who teases her and makes her cry actually likes her leaving her wondering why would someone who liked her so much reduce her to tears! When she got her periods for the first time, she was told to hide it with all the might. When she was stalked by a boy, her father told her to wear decent clothes. 

When the sisters reached college, they were told to choose teaching as a career because it has fixed working hours which will not hinder their marriage and kids' lives. The job she quit did not come easy to her either. She really had to toil and work twice as hard as any man. 

I had always wanted to read something from Korea, the country with regressive beauty culture. As mentioned in the title, the protagonist, Kim Ji- Young is born in 1982. The book is divided into the parts that talk about her childhood, the time she went to school and college, her work , life, and finally her marriage. 

The country was going through massive economical and social changes in the 90s, the time Ji -Young went to school. In one incident, a bunch of girls from her class was arrested because they beat a flasher and got him arrested and then there is another wherein Ji-Young goes to an interview where she was asked what would she do if some groped her thigh in an official meeting. Even the answer ' I will leave the place and go to washroom,' could not get her job because the company was not at all interested in hiring women. 

Kim ji-Young, 1982 is a story of every woman who is fighting for her space in society in a hope that next-generation women do not face what they did. 

A Childhood in Malabar

I have a thing for Memoirs, especially the ones that take you the places you have never been to. Thanks to, Kamala Das's  A childhood in Malabar, I got to travel to Kerala, of course, Malabar to be precise. 

Kamala Das was five or six when she traveled to Calcutta to Malabar for the first time. It was the place she got to know some people will never have easy lives because of the caste they belong to. It was the place where she learned that some people will always have it easy, even if they do not do anything because of the caste they belong to. It was the place where she learned that some people should not be allowed to step inside her house because their caste will pollute everything. Caste, caste, and more caste. 

Then came the lessons on beauty. Dark can never be beautiful, they told her. That's why a girl should do all she can to lighten her skin. And Kamla was not beautiful. 

When she grew up a little she was told every woman has to get married because, without it, her life is incomplete. And later she was told a woman should die rather than marrying outside their caste. An ideal woman is someone who is beautiful and marries wherever her parents want her to. 

She took it all and asked harmless innocent questions at times like ' When am I getting married', ' Is seven too young to get married'. 

A childhood at Malabar is a heartwarming read that introduces you to casteist and sexist households of Kerela and how little Kamala found her place in it. At times, it reminds you of God of Small things but then Arundhati wrote that book much after Kamla came out with hers. But then the readers are bound to think of it because of Kerla backdrop, maybe. 

  While reading the book you would ask yourself, how many lessons on caste, beauty and ideal marriage does a girl need. But then you will have to wait until the end. The book surprises you like not many books can. Till then learn about the regressive and casteist Nair household and navigate the little girl's journey through it. 

Of mice and men : John Steinbeck

 After, Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, this is the third book I read by John Steinbeck.  Like all his other books, this one too has aged well. Well, they are called Modern Classics for a reason.  Due to the conversation in rural Americanised English, his books sometimes appear to be difficult to read but they are fun. 

Like most of his books, this one also revolves around The great depression of 1930 which left many jobless in America and other nations. In the book, we met Goerge and Lennie, who are friends and travel together hunting for jobs.  Lennie is a strong big mentally retarded man, while Goerge is a clever guy with small built. When Lennie lands himself in trouble because of the way he is, Goerge comes to his rescue. Only Goerge understands what Lennie is- a child at mind and heart who wants nothing from life but pies with loads of ketchup and a farm where he could render Rabbit! Oh he and his thing for all things soft and squishy. The reason why he touched his previous employer's wife's red dress and landed himself in hot water. 

And the same thing happened in his new workplace, where the boss's wife tempted him to touch her soft hair. 

In this Era, where different writers are writing about their lives and times in New York City, Steinbeck's books still look relevant with their simple and yet strong character from Rural California living in poverty. The book was part of US school course and I understand why. It talks about friendship and surviving The Great Depression together. 

Read it because it is really short and leaves you with the taste of classic without burning you out.