Dollar Bahu

Sudha Murty

Dec 2007 · Penguin UK

About this ebook

A story of how money corrupts the way people look at one another and how it can almost tear a family apart Vinuta marries Girish, a bank clerk, and starts living with his family in Bangalore. She adjusts to her new family well, looking after her husband, father-in-law and mother-in-law Gouramma, not taking to heart her mother-in-law's constant picking. But when Girish's elder brother Chandru, who is in the US, decides to get married, Vinuta has to listen to the constant comparisons made between her and Chandru's wife, the 'Dollar Bahu', whose husband earns the valuable dollars that has brought the family its recent affluence. Vinuta slowly loses her peace of mind and health. Then Gouramma decides to visit her US-based son and daughter-in-law. Once there, she sees how liberating life can be, away from the strict norms that govern Indian middle-class life. But she also begins to understand that mere dollars cannot buy the love and respect that she gets as her due back in India. Does Gouramma forge a new relationship with Vinuta and can Vinuta forgive and forget the past?

Ratings and reviews

"People in America should not crave for Indian life and same goes the vice versa. That leads to worse of both." Also, the book is a good realization for anyone who believes that money can bring everything.

I started reading her books when one of her short stories was introduced in our NCERT english textbook. I still read her books. I'm doing my grad right now!

Nice way of explaining life in different countries. Both positive and negative impact is explained well enough