Inequality of any kind is a subject that Preeti Shenoy explores in her latest book The Rule Breakers through the concept (among others) of arranged marriage.
“The book isn’t really about arranged marriage, it is more about gender inequality. I feel strongly about the fact that girls and boys are not treated equally in India, even in 2018. The average age of marriage is still less than 22 years in rural areas,” says the author, known for best-selling works such as A Hundred Little Flames , recently and Why we love the way we do .
“The protagonist Veda, comes from a small town. I felt it was a good way to tell her story, which is why I chose this theme. When Veda starts working with an NGO, she also witnesses the inequalities in different strata of society. Highlighting all that against the backdrop of an interesting story that keeps you turning pages, I thought, would be a good way to express what I feel.”
Though novels, according to Preeti, are slower agents of change, what she seeks to highlight is that even in today’s times, girls don’t really have their say or are brainwashed, and coerced, mostly gently, and at other times, not so gently into marriage.
“I conducted a poll where I asked women if their parents found a nice match for them before they turned 25, whether they would be willing to get married. Over 85% of them said they would. I also asked those among them who did get married early, whether they felt it was too early to have done so, and 65% of them said yes,” she observes. “That says a lot, they want to please their parents and are willing to put their ambitions and hopes on the back burner for this. That is how most of us are raised, even I am that way to an extent. I feel the book explores this particular aspect that is specific to India.”
The book also explores the ‘mother-in-law’ figure and the tense relationship between ‘saas-bahu’.
“I wanted to do some research into the phenomenon of the ‘villainous’ mother-in-law and whether she exists only in the reel world. Based on the results of the informal poll, I realized my mother-in-law is saintly in comparison to some of the stories I heard, even from other countries, which is quite shocking.”
Preeti says The Rule Breakers was the most difficult book she has written; it took shape after four drafts. “There was a danger of the sub-plot taking over the main plot, because there is so much happening. We didn’t want the story of the NGO to take over Veda’s story, all of it had to be told against the backdrop of Veda’s marriage and how she grew towards the end of the book; every character grows.”
The book also highlights the fact that many women don’t have the freedom to talk about their sexuality, who they are, what they believe in, or whom they want to get married to. “There might be a small percentage of urban people who do have that freedom, but that’s a tiny percentage. A majority of couples are like Veda and Bhuvan.”
However, Preeti adds, she doesn’t consciously think about a message when she’s writing. “It is a subconscious process, otherwise it would be forced, and I don’t want that. Even this book has a natural ending. If there’s a message, it’s not conscious. Usually, people find the message and I simply tell the story in the best way that I can.”
The Rule Breakers is out in bookstores and on Amazon(₹222, paperback). For details, visit preetishenoy.com .
