CANDIDNESS: 3.5/5
WRITING STYLE: 3/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3/5
“During our honeymoon, he told me that my smile was going to vanish in a few days. I could not understand what he meant, but it definitely stole the happiness of that beautiful period.”
My Musings
I am a big fan of memoirs. I like the way a reader can learn so much about the lives of other individuals just from reading a memoir. It shows that on the most basic of all levels, we are nothing if not similar. A Journey to Yonder by Nidhi Kaur is one such memoir which I came across recently.
About the Book
A Journey to Yonder is the memoir of Nidhi Kaur in which she brings to the readers the memories of her life right from her childhood to her recent years. Nidhi, as a child, was troubled by the fact that her brother had a hearing issue and because of this, he always had to go to special schools and stay away from his family. Even at that tender age, the love and pain that Nidhi feels are passionate and intense.
As the years go by, her hardships increase when she faces difficulty in her love life and married life. Nidhi reflects on all her pains in a melancholic yet poetic way. But nevertheless, her journey gives us a message – a message on the importance of keeping faith in God; a message which speaks of spirituality and soul cleansing.
A Unique Combination
The best part of A Journey to Yonder is Nidhi’s unique usage of both poetry and prose in describing her life to the reader. She frequently shifts between the two, intelligently using them for maximum impact. I love how she is able to write such a passionately worded memoir in just under 150 pages. Her language is simple yet expressive. Some of her poems are definitely worth revisiting.
“The tears that roll down,
The pain that never ceases –
They are the inspiration to write,
And I will write whatever comes.
My soul, I must oblige.”
Some of the passionate lovemaking scenes are also exquisitely described by the way of a poem.
A Story Worth Telling
Nidhi’s story in A Journey to Yonder is full of lifelong suffering and hardships. They say that not everyone is born with the same fate but in my opinion, Nidhi has endured more than a fair share of them. Having lived in a patriarchal society and in an arranged marriage setup, Nidhi’s married life was particularly painful. The many facts of her married life, which she candidly reveals in the memoir, are not only shockingly unbelievable but also sad. The sad irony of life is that her surname ‘Kaur’ stands for ‘the Princess of the God’ which, despite all the torments, she still lives by.
What I Did Not Like?
I did not like the way the book is arranged in a random fashion. The thoughts, though beautiful individually, are random at best. They do not follow a particularly linear way which creates a lot of confusion and spoils the reading pleasure.
Final Verdict
Overall, A Journey to Yonder is a decent read, but, quite honestly it does not stand out amongst the various other memoirs that I have read so far. It is a one-time-read at its best and might appeal to people who want to understand the many nuances of Indian patriarchal society and the arranged marriage setup.
Can’t wait to read it? Buy your copy at the link below.
