My Poems are not for your ad Campaign was first published in Assamese as Hriday Ek Bigyapan by Anuradha Sharma Pujari. This translated edition by Aruni Kashyap is smooth and flawless, rarely making me feel like I was reading a translated book. Set in the 90s our female protagonist finds herself navigating through the booming corporate world. Bhashwathi, is a well educated woman who moves to Calcutta with her husband. When she decides to look for a job upon her husband’s insistence, she finds herself on the steps of an advertising company through his contacts. Here, she observes how women are treated differently by those capitalising on their bodies.

Bhashwathi is taken aback by how women in her company are compromised to get things done. In this new world, she finds it hard to wrap her head around the fact that things like these are slowly being normalised. Some do it willingly while the others are left with no choice but to indulge in activities that often works in convincing men to accept business deals. But on a fine day, Bhashwathi discovers a poem by a woman named Mohua Roy and her interest is instantly peaked. Who is this Mohua Roy who left the job and whose role Bhashwathi eventually filled in?

As the women get to know each other, Bhashwathi further realises how society is often cruel to women and that the double standards that modern women face for dating do not apply to men. The book is breezy enough, which made me finish it in a single sitting but I did have concerns with the protagonist herself.

She was quick to judge other people around her. It often felt like she couldn’t quite comprehend how hard it must be for women in general to lead a respectable life and understood only when someone took the time out to carefully explain things to her. She couldn’t quite understand her husband’s desire to grow up the corporate ladder. The passion that they shared in their four years of marriage took a backseat and not an effort was made from her end to revive it as well. I think her slightly flawed nature made it difficult for me to sympathise with her.
This book didn’t work for me but it might for you. Thanks for the copy @penguinindia ✨