Is a woman vulnerable?

This question has been troubling me since I started reading the book ‘Ladies Coupe`’ by Anita Nair. She tries to answer few of the questions that every woman would have faced in her life, but fails in doing so. This novel is good in answering the question ‘Is a woman vulnerable?’ rather than ‘Can a woman stay single and live happily?’. She narrates stories of six women who are very much different in their age, social status etc but all being Indian women. But I think a woman’s life is the same wherever (across the world) you go… a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a wife. She is the same ..compassionate, caring, affectionate, at the same time she is mighty, vindictive, erosive.

I liked one of the characters comparing herself (a woman) to ‘water’. Water – one among the five elements that constitute life. Water that moistens. Water that heals. Water that comforts. Water that flows tirelessly. Water that also destroys. Capable of dissolving just about anything which as mere water, it wouldn’t even dare to aspire to. Raging with a vehemence that could burn and destroy poisons that if allowed to remain, would kill that was natural and good.



Protagonist Akhila in this novel tries to seek an answer for her question from the stories of other women. I basically did not like this character Akhila, who is a mere hypocrite, an insane person who thinks that she can share her sorrows/ intrigues with co-passengers who are women like her. How could some one else solve your problem of life? If it was that simple to get answers to your questions from other’s lives why would this world still have many problems? After all are the problems of two women the same?

The only two characters I liked are Prabha Devi and Margarette.

Prabha Devi a woman who doesn’t go by the norms set by men. A woman who has her own opinions and plans for her life. A woman who does some thing out of routine to make her life interesting. Who likes to be the way she is. Who is completely assured of who she is, who knows what she wants and who knows what she doesn’t like. A woman who is confident and content with what she is.

Margarette, a chemistry lecturer who tolerates all the contempt from the most loved husband and finally decides to be evasive to him in order to touch and shake his self-esteem the very foundation of his being. She knows how to come over the male egoism.
I liked her theory of comparing people to chemicals – arsenic, bromine, lithium, cobalt, tetrasulphur tetranide, nitrous oxide and finally hydrogen sulphur.

Bromine – Heavy, volatile, not very active by herself, but united readily with others.
Lithium – Light and slivery, dazzling everyone with smile and charm.
Cobalt – Evil spirit. Hard and brittle.
Tetrasulphur Tetranide – The trickiest. Trusted aide, changes its color with the room temperature.
Nitrous oxide - Laughing gas. Droll and funny.
Arsenic – Poisoner of minds
Hydrogen Sulphur – King of chemicals. Given to extremes.

You ought to read the novel to understand how she compares her colleagues with these chemicals.

All the six characters in this novel have had their mother’s influence in the way they were brought up. Their mother saying how she should be like a daughter, like a wife, like a sister, like a mother. But none of them tell them how to be like a woman, a woman with her own identity. I owe a lot to my mother for this. She did never teach me all these. She taught me how to be independent. How to be successful. How to be unvanquished. My Dad’s affection makes me a child but my mother made me a woman. To me, my mother and grand-mother are role models. They did never impose any restrictions on me and they did never forget to let me know if there was something that I should know.