The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao Book Review!

Posted On January 21, 2025

Hi Readers!

They say don’t judge a book by its cover. Well, I have to say don’t judge a book by its award. I have been burnt too many times for reading award winning books only to dislike them or have an utterly awful reading experience. There’s no point reading something just because everyone else is reading it, or because it’s woke, or for any other reason other than that you want to read it. I had high expectations from The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao, which did not reach, but it wasn’t too bad either. But, the funny thing is that my reading experience was not at all enjoyable. Find out more!

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

‘My story may end with sadness, but I want you to remember that it started with love. Mumbai has moved on now. It doesn’t think about 1992 or 1993 because it doesn’t want to. People in big cities like to think that the past is not as important as the future. But the past doesn’t just disappear.’
Mumbai, in the early 90s. The Ram Janmabhoomi movement is at its peak, and the Babri Masjid has just fallen. Decades later, in a corner of the metropolis, a retired postman living alone in a dilapidated room tries to recall those months of madness and how they changed everyone he knew.
This is the story of Rameshwar Shinde and Ravinarayan Kumar, a young woman called Janaki, and the neighbours they live with, in the shadows of towers. It is a story of families torn apart by bigotry, an unmissable retelling of the epic Ramayana set at a time when blood mixed with the grime of Mumbai’s streets. A tale more pertinent than ever, in a country once again teetering on the edge.

~~THOUGHTS~~

The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao is the story about a clash between two chawls for reasons unknown causing disruption among the lives of many amid the Babri Masjid demolition which led to the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai, and all of this with a Ramayana retelling and social commentary. Sounds fascinating, isn’t it? I thought so too before I read the book. I think this book was equal parts fascinating, annoying and eventually insufferable.

When I started reading the book, what I found fascinating was how such a story was written with the hints of being a Ramayana retelling. The clues were there making it less predictable, but every time some major event mirrored the epic saga, I was amazed at how the author brought it about. Sure, this made it predictable, but the socio-political theme sustained it. Talking about the theme, I felt that the author put forth all his thoughts about socio political aspects right at the beginning of the book, and then later forgot about it and moved on to putting all the efforts into making it a successful retelling, albeit a little preposterous. In the initial 50 pages itself, we are bombarded with social commentary around Hindu-Muslim hate, the poverty that makes the city of Mumbai, the rich-poor contrast, class differences, political parties, existentialism in a kholi which is 150 square meters, school system, life of a common man and much more. It’s jarring.

When you get used to this intensity, the story slows down. Ironically this part should have been intense, but the writing made it quite mundane. The main plot goes where our main characters replicate Sita haran, Hanuman burning Lanka and then the actual fight. If it would have been a task to write it, it was also a task to read it. The writing felt slow, repetitive, and charmless when I just couldn’t continue reading. There was quiet when there should have been action. There was action when there should have been restraint. And, there was restraint when there should have been chaos.

And just like that, the book ended. It certainly was ambitious, but it tried to become too many things leading to it becoming not even one. I don’t usually read novels from this genre, and after reading this one, I doubt I will again. I have rated The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao by Lindsay Pereira at 3/5 stars.

~~Characters in The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao as Ramayan Characters~~

To make it easier, I thought of sharing which characters in the book mirror the ones from Ramayana.

Ramesh – Ram

Lakhya – Lakshman

Bantya – Bharat

Janaki – Seeta

Ravi Anna – Raavan

Sundar – Hanuman

Surbha – Shurpanakha

Kavita – Kaikeyi

~~TO READ OR NOT TO READ~~

Since I was not a big fan of the book, I can share why you shouldn’t read it. If you want to read this because it’s a mythological retelling, then you should read it. It won’t amaze you, but it can be interesting. If you want to read it because it’s a socio-political novel, you should not read it, because it’s fairly one-sided and doesn’t truly justify that genre. If you want to read this just because it won an award, don’t. If you want to read it to try something different, you can pick it up. But, in all these circumstances, it would be good to set low expectations, otherwise there isn’t much to be gained from the book.

Until next time,