I received this book in exchange for a review. I would like to thank the author for the same. The simplest review for She would be - It's about a She in a He.
It's a novella or maybe a long-short-story running to a little over 50 pages, quite concise and to the point. I would have appreciated a sharper edit and a little more grammatically correct text given a slick storyline and the short length of the text.
The story is set in the 90s, and sounds like some of the real life stories in newspapers and magazines. A He in a She or a She in a He need not necessarily mean a transgender. Science has already defined that every he is a part she, in that he inherits his x from his mother, and every she is a part he, inheriting an x from her Father.
'She' specifically views confusions arising out of gender stereotyping and sexual preference through the eyes of a transgender. The story ends on a positive note on the lines of Tagore's poem Ekla cholo re which is part of the title too. My view - confusions rule when the need to be accepted as we really are, feels primary and peace sets in the moment we realize that it is our acceptance of what we are, that matters most.
If they answer not to your call walk alone
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou unlucky one,
open your mind and speak out alone.
If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
O thou unlucky one,
trample the thorns under thy tread,
and along the blood-lined track travel alone.
If they shut doors and do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,
O thou unlucky one,
with the thunder flame of pain ignite your own heart,
and let it burn alone.
