A Breath of Fresh Air

Amulya Malladi
214 pages
www.amulyamalladi.com

A Breath of Fresh Air was literally about breathing fresh air for Anjali and for her son. It was also about an arranged marriage and the question if an arranged marriage would work.
For Anjali, there was no question about it. All of her friends that she knew had arranged marriages and their marriages lasted.
It began when Anjali was in Bhopal during the catastrophic disaster.
A pesticide factory released its gas due to miscalculating pressure and surrounded Bhopal with its deadly fume. The gas killed thousands of people but Anjali survived. She was waiting for her husband to pick her up after visiting her parents. Prakash, the husband was sleeping while Anjali struggled for her life.
The marriage between them was arranged by Anjali’s aunt which delighted Anjali. She had been dreaming of marrying a handsome husband who would sweep her off her feet and made her a perfect wife. But Prakash was the opposite. He was not a perfect husband. Anjali tried to hang on to the marriage and tried very hard to please and to serve Prakash until she found out that he had been cheating on her. She made a decision to divorce Prakash as she could not bear living with a cheater anymore. This decision angered her parents since her parents believed that the wife should bear all pain and misfortune in her marriage. In other word, no divorce!

Anjali life started again when she met her second husband. They met in the college and fell in love. They had a sick baby as a consequence of her breathing the toxic fume.
Everyday as Anjali saw her son, she blamed Prakash and carried the hatred for a long time. Their path met again when Prakash was stationed in the same town as Anjali. The guilt that haunted Prakash forced him to visit Anjali’s house and found out about her son. He tried to mend his guilt by helping Anjali and her husband to save their son.
Anjali's son, Amir was very ill and was too late to be saved. Before he died, he asked Anjali to wheel him to a park to have a breath of fresh air.


Amulya Malladi wrote this novel based on the tragedy in Bhopal, India. The gas leaked claimed 16,000 people and many survivors had to live with the long-term effects of the exposure to the gas.



Happy Valentine’ day
Today, I read about a young married couple who were freed from any charges of kissing in public. India still believes in having no affection shown in public and that will include holding hands between a man and a woman. Personally I like this idea however the law should be more lenient towards married couples. So I guess there is a reason to celebrate Valentine's day then! :) More info, please read Yahoo news.