Book Review - The Withering Banyan by Hyma Goparaju

Synopsis -
A well-to-do business family, whose members are torn apart by a turbulent father-son relationship shrouded in mistrust, suspicion, and contempt for one another- a result of the vagaries of the son's mind and its maladies - suffers silently. Well-wishers fear that Badri is suffering from a mental derangement, and is on the brink of wiping away his father, Siveswara's hard-earned fame and fortune. Unaware of the boundless periphery of its affliction, descendants of the five-generation lineage are confounded with an enigmatic and stigmatizing battle of their lifetime which they have to decode and overcome in order to ensure the well-being of the ensuing generations.

About the story-
The story has been set up in two parts. One part tells the story of Badri, son of a rich father Siveswara and mother Parvathy Devi. Badri is very much attached to his grandmother Kanakamma. They have a business of sweatmeat known as Irram House which is growing faster and bigger. Their house, which is popularly known as Marri House is the only palace like house in the whole town. The hiuse has a Banyan tree which is considered as their goodwill.
When Badri grows up he oppose joining father's business instead open ups his own press known as The People's Herals with his childhood friend Sundar, which didn't do well. Due to many problems and loss of dear ones, Badri starts loosing his self control and become aggressive with time.

The second part describes how Badri's granddaughter Natya comes to India from Australia after the death of her mother. Badri registers the big Marri house on the name of Natya's mother. To which all his other children were not happy and they took the matter to the court, proving their father mentally retard.

Schizophrenia runs in the family and has affected many people.

My verdict-

The author has keenly observed the behaviour of the relatives. Now-a-days relatives are becoming selfish. All they consider is property and not relations. Author has compared the withering Banyan with the withering families, hence the title is appropriate. The story shows the true side of relations and it is well written. Everything is well explained, but I felt that author has used many difficult words which compels readers to open dictionary at every sentence. I feel in that way, readers pay more attention on dictionary and less on the story.

Overall it was an amazing read.

Ratings - 3.5/5