Ladies Coupé by Anita Nair - Fathima Shirin


                                               

Any story from a female perspective has always seemed to be more elegant than their male counterparts. Such eloquent penmanship is the books written by Anita Nair and Ladies Coupé is a story that brings out these nuance detailing of characters. Solely admired by this book, we had a session of our Book Club fully devoted to Anita Nair. 

“This is the world. Half of it is lit by the sun and the other half remains in darkness. It is the same with life. There is good and bad and it’s our duty to remain in the light, be good.” - Anita Nair, Ladies Coupé.  
The story begins when the protagonist Akhila plans a train journey to Kanyakumari. The story unfolds as she takes her seat in the ladies’ coupe of the crowded train. Through her journey, she tries to find an answer to a question that has been haunting for the past forty-five years of her existence- can a woman be unmarried, independent, and happy all at the same time. The book takes turns to narrate the stories of five women she meets on the train. As they reach the end of the journey, she seeks a solution to the dilemma from those women. 

Now, a common question arises- is this another mainstream feminist novel that deals with similar issues like others? The answer is no. Ladies Coupé is not a feminist novel. This is the story of every contemporary Indian woman and her quest for self-discovery. This is a story that takes us to a point where the characters are no more just characters of a book but a part of you because, at one point in our lives, we have all been there. Even the male characters are well picturized and are portrayed in such a way that the readers have at least one such man in their life. The story has succeeded in fixing an old dull mirror in front of the reader, reflecting the lives we have been living and the questions we have been asking ourselves through eternity. 
"Love beckons with a rare bouquet. Love demands you drink of it. And then love burns the tongue, the senses. Love blinds. Love maddens. Love separates reason from thought. Love kills. Love is methyl alcohol pretending to be ethyl alcohol."- Anita Nair
There is a subtle beauty given to the emotions that would stay with the reader for a pretty long while. That is the reason why the story Ladies Coupé demands to be read. The story reminds the readers to be the authors of their own lives and pins a beginning to the definition of serenity in the contemporary.

Few Goodreads by Anita Nair:
  • The Better Man
  • Lessons in Forgetting
  • Mistress
  • Cut Like Wound
  • Chain of Custody
  • Eating Wasps
  • Malabar Mind
  • Najma

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