Take a photo of a barcode or cover
anusha_reads 's review for:
One Foot on the Ground: A Life Told Through the Body
by Shanta Gokhale
SHANTA GOKHALE (OOTY LIT. FEST & TATA LIT. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD and many more awards)
“MY LIFE’S PHILOSOPHY WAS NOT TO LIFT MY SECOND FOOT UNTIL THE FIRST HAD FOUND A FIRM TOEHOLD.”- Shanta Gokhale
A witty, rational, and frank narrative of her life through parts of her body; a very unique way of telling one’s story.
Shanta Gokhale comes across as sensible, versatile, determined, pragmatic and feminist. A voracious reader, and a novelist, she was also the sub editor of FEMINA magazine, translator of many Marathi novels, and much more. I didn’t know that Shanta Gokhale is the famous actor Renuka Shahane’s mother.
A point I noted is that from the beginning she always carved out a ‘Me-Time’ whether she was at college, married, working or a parent. Although Virginia Woolf talks about what curbs women’s creativity in ‘A room of one’s own,’ it was clearer from the narrative of Shanta Gokhale where she reads/ writes undeterred by the complexities in life.
She has mentioned many books that she loved and has aptly used her bookish knowledge in various instances of her life.
Be it her tonsils or her teeth, when she was a girl, a chapter on her nose, about photic sneeze reflex, menstruation or menopause, her hairstyle obsession during her teenage or her hair loss after delivery or her tryst with cancer, every chapter portrays her humour, her resilience and tenacious nature.
The last chapter, a story about her buying shoes at Bata is hilarious and when she finally gets the shoes which are apt for her bunion, she slips her feet into them, yes, slip not squeeze! She thoroughly enjoys her morning walk the next day.
She ends with the lines: Heaven’s Gate …Seventy-eight…Bingo!
The book traverses a journey from her childhood to the age of Seventy- eight.
People face problems in life and every problem has its unique solution. It is nice to read about people’s lives. There are so many questions one has in life for which there is no universal teacher who can solve them all. Autobiographies often reveal how people tackle or juggle various difficult situations in life.
An amazing autobiography, recommended by a friend, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!
“MY LIFE’S PHILOSOPHY WAS NOT TO LIFT MY SECOND FOOT UNTIL THE FIRST HAD FOUND A FIRM TOEHOLD.”- Shanta Gokhale
A witty, rational, and frank narrative of her life through parts of her body; a very unique way of telling one’s story.
Shanta Gokhale comes across as sensible, versatile, determined, pragmatic and feminist. A voracious reader, and a novelist, she was also the sub editor of FEMINA magazine, translator of many Marathi novels, and much more. I didn’t know that Shanta Gokhale is the famous actor Renuka Shahane’s mother.
A point I noted is that from the beginning she always carved out a ‘Me-Time’ whether she was at college, married, working or a parent. Although Virginia Woolf talks about what curbs women’s creativity in ‘A room of one’s own,’ it was clearer from the narrative of Shanta Gokhale where she reads/ writes undeterred by the complexities in life.
She has mentioned many books that she loved and has aptly used her bookish knowledge in various instances of her life.
Be it her tonsils or her teeth, when she was a girl, a chapter on her nose, about photic sneeze reflex, menstruation or menopause, her hairstyle obsession during her teenage or her hair loss after delivery or her tryst with cancer, every chapter portrays her humour, her resilience and tenacious nature.
The last chapter, a story about her buying shoes at Bata is hilarious and when she finally gets the shoes which are apt for her bunion, she slips her feet into them, yes, slip not squeeze! She thoroughly enjoys her morning walk the next day.
She ends with the lines: Heaven’s Gate …Seventy-eight…Bingo!
The book traverses a journey from her childhood to the age of Seventy- eight.
People face problems in life and every problem has its unique solution. It is nice to read about people’s lives. There are so many questions one has in life for which there is no universal teacher who can solve them all. Autobiographies often reveal how people tackle or juggle various difficult situations in life.
An amazing autobiography, recommended by a friend, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!