Fifty-Five Pillars, Red Walls

Published in 1961 as Pachpan Khambe, Laal Deewaarein in Hindi, Usha Priyamvada’s debut novel Fifty Five Pillars, Red Walls translated by Daisy Rockwell is a moving narrative that examines the agency and actual independence of the new educated Indian woman. The narrative is set on a mostly women protagonist cast and through their world views and situations gives a commentary on just where educated young women find themselves in society and within their own families.The main protagonist Sushma, is a lecturer, a warden and a woman who has a keen mind, a liberal outlook but saddled with the emotional and financial burdens placed by her family and hence, not expected to marry. At the all women college and hostel that she teaches and looks after as a warden, she is in charge and in a place of authority but scratch the surface and the cracks emerge: Sushma cannot stop how other women around her perpetuate an air of prejudice and judgmental attitudes placed on the actions of women.That Sushma’s maid remains a staunch ally when others around her try to pull her down delicately places that empathy and understanding for what a woman goes through do not come from one’s social position and education solely but from a person’s innate nature. This nuanced conflict of the new and the old, of traditions and how women also play a part in perpetuating social traditions vis a vis a supposed liberal and progressive sphere brought about by education and jobs form the core of the book.It is a book that looks at the agency of women who are made to bear the weight of society and family. Sushma's dilemmas, her little joys and sense of aesthetics will touch you in many ways while the vice-like clamps placed on her will frustrate you to no end. And then, you will find that not much has changed for most women in all the years. The writing is evocative yet restrained, mirroring the emotional turmoil of Sushma but never bogged down by drama. The impassioned foreword by Daisy Rockwell is a testament to the beauty and depth of this book.

Of women who came from middle class families in India during 1960,s time and the Authors perfect prose which was translated perfectly without losing the real meaning.