Mala Mahesh unveiled her latest fiction book ‘Padma’

For generations, the worth of a woman’s life has often been equated to her reproductive abilities with little or no regard to the number of challenges faced in the process of childbirth. Rarely do we come across stories centred around difficult pregnancies, miscarriages, and infertility as these conversations seldom make us comfortable. However, breaking such norms, the book the Padma by Mala Mahesh takes an intriguing approach to the subject by offering a tale of two incredible women across different times struggling with the same issues. The story spans over 100 years with Padma living in a small village in Kerala in the early 1900s and Naina who lives in the fast-paced Mumbai today.

The launch event was a light-hearted affair attended by media professionals as well as friends and family of Mala Mahesh along with Chief Guest and renowned musician Padmashree Shankar Mahadevan. The cover was unveiled at the hands of Mala Mahesh and Shankar Mahadevan amidst flashes and applause. The music guru graced the audience with one of his most beautiful melodies ‘Maa’ from Taare Zameen Par, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the evening. Sharing his thoughts on the book, he later added, “While on one hand, we worship women goddesses and often refer to our own country as ‘Bharat Maa’, on the other, we hold women responsible, and create a social stigma for something that is often beyond their control. I am glad this issue is being addressed through this book today.”

Several interesting conversations took place during the event. Mala shared excerpts from the book and many of her thoughts including her coming about the idea for the Padma. “My grandmother told me about some true-life incidents on the issue of infertility. From those times to now, a woman’s worth is judged on their capacity to bear children. They were blamed and shamed for something beyond their control. Between the couple, the problem could lie with the man, but they would refuse to accept that fact. I felt it was unfair to pin the blame on women for this condition and wrote a story on how this situation could impact a woman’s feelings, psyche, and family,” she explained. In this rare instance, we witnessed how a topic that is often left unspoken was so well embraced and presented by the author Mala Mahesh for the audience to absorb and relate to.