Wise Enough to be Foolish | Gauri Jayaram | Book Review

Wise enough to be foolishPLOT: 3.5/5
CHARACTERS: 4/5
WRITING STYLE: 4/5
CLIMAX: 3.5/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

Everybody loves a good biography. It inspires us, seduces us to dream big in spite of humble backgrounds, and gives us a sneak peek into the life of the author.

I am no exception and have had the pleasure of reading quite a few of them.

Sadly, most of us prefer to grab the memoirs of titans. Nobody gives even a second look at the biopics of unknown souls.

I would have meted out similar treatment to Wise enough to be foolish, had it not been for Jaico Publishers.

This book is not the biography of one particular person; it’s the story of every average Indian girl – a girl who has to fight from her birth to get what is rightfully hers; she has to fight at home to be treated as an equal to her brother, at school to be a part of the soccer team, at college to ward off unwanted advances of perverted minds, at the office to get equal opportunities as her male colleagues.

These points are brought out in the form of a story – a fictionalised memoir of Gauri Jayaram, the author.

Though this is a biography and is supposed to be plain and simple, there is a well-crafted element of suspense at the end of each chapter.

The story begins on 11th July, 1998 and the Dutch are playing against Croatia in the FIFA world cup. Using this as an excuse, Gauri’s husband disappears for entire nights in the pretext of watching the game.

Soon she discovers that he is cheating on her. With this as a point of reference, she walks down the memory lane and talks about her childhood, her youth, her school life, college life, and career and about the many problems she faced during her journey of 28 years.

She was not one to be bogged down by the encumbrance of women discrimination. She faced the problems head-on and carved out her own destiny.

Was she successful in being an independent woman? Did she meet the man of her dreams? Did she have a happy ending? These are the questions to be explored in the book.

Gauri’s Wise Enough to be Foolish should be an inspiration to the many women who face many of the problems listed here.

A point worth mentioning is the way she handled her divorce and decided not to bow down before the social stigma attached to it. I don’t know if I’m the only one, but men too can get a few lessons out of this book.

Well, if there were no negatives, I’d have rated it a 5. But there are a few negatives where I was disappointed and the read was a bit difficult. Rest assured, gift this book to your girlfriend, sister, mom or granny. They’ll love it.

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