Mahanagar Mumbai [Marathi edition]

The book describes the indomitable will of a woman who comes out of the darkest phase of her life and emerges as a winner. Rather than being a victim of circumstances, she masters them. Mahanagar Mumbai also elucidates the social class issues prevalent in such a big city and the orthodox outlook of people at the time of marriages even when things have modernised so much.

Sudha Murti, a beautiful, young and cheerful lady born into a poor family, falls in love with a rich, handsome doctor. The boy's family disapproves of their relationship, yet they get married against their families' wishes. She steps into a new life with new hopes and dreams, but soon her plans get crashed within a few months of her marriage. She is diagnosed with leucoderma, a disease where the sufferers gets white spots on their body. She is scarred with spots and this disease has scarred her life. Her growing ugliness makes everyone uncomfortable around her. She is fighting a battle within her, making herself accept this fact of life. But before she could digest it, she is soon thrown out of her husband's house when bearing her becomes intolerable to them. She is sent to her parents' house with no second thoughts.

Sudha is thrown away like a piece of garbage, yet she is rebuilding her own universe and making her life better. Her husband has questions and a lot of questions, which take his peace away. He asks himself whether she would do the same thing if he is in her place and would his family do the same thing if their son had got the disease. Mahanagar Mumbai has brought out a very mature outlook through a touching story. Penguin India published the book in 2007 in paperback format.

Key Features:

• The book deals with the sensitive disease vitiligo.