Book Title: An Unlikely Chemistry
Subtitle: Autobiography of A Couple
Author: S. Krishnaswamy
Total Number of Pages: 368
Publisher: Rupa Publications India
Publication Date: 20 Feb 2018
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Genre: Non-fiction / Autobiography
BLURB
How can two people survive in a marriage when one of them sees it as an impediment to personal growth?
Well, you keep trying and eventually figure ways of making it work. An Unlikely Chemistry is the story of a couple—a scientist and a filmmaker—who battle personal issues and external challenges and go on to build a life on their own terms.
The scientist, Mohana, stands up to a crippled system, determined to discover an Ayurvedic drug for cancer. On the threshold of global recognition, she is compelled to abandon her research due to the biases of a system plagued by caste-based reservations.
The filmmaker, Krishnaswamy, provoked by a distorted American documentary on India, vows to make an authentic film on Indian history, heritage and culture. A vow he fulfils with the release of his four-hour film, Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi, distributed by Warner Bros.
Krishnaswamy and Mohana then join hands to weave an illustrious tapestry of over two hundred non-fiction films and a dozen television serials. However, their path is littered with politics, controversies, legal battles and societal prejudices, but their belief in righteousness and spirituality helps them overcome these hurdles.
An Unlikely Chemistry is the remarkable autobiography of a couple—their love and their journey of nearly five decades. Within these pages, there’s also the veritable magic and nostalgia of a bygone era.
REVIEWED BY SOHINEE DEY
An Unlikely Chemistry is a personal account of the author himself where addresses all the issues that he and his wife, Mohana had to face in their lives. While Dr. Krishnaswamy was working on films, Mohana, a scientist, she was determined to discover an Ayurvedic drug for Cancer. These two people were from two completely different professions, yet when it called for tough times, they stood by each other’s side.
Read My Previous Review of John Thomas’s The Big Switch
Krishnaswamy was provoked by distorted presentation of India in an American documentary, that is when he released ‘Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi’, a documentary that did justice to the Indian history.
In this book, the author doesn’t talk only about himself and how he succeeded in life, he also talks about his wife who had to sacrifice so much due to the societal issues back in the late 90s. In the late 1980s, the reservations was introduced which acted as a barrier to Mohana’s progression. Maybe the author’s love for filming documentaries, Indian history and heritage was contagious that it made Mohana get involved in filmmaking as she slowly drifted away from Science.
The author covers a lot of topics including social, political, literary and economic conditions during those times.
The language used is simple and easy to understand. Generally, I don’t really like to read autobiographies but the narrative of this book drew me in. Even though it was bit of a long read, I didn’t find it boring. It was really interesting in the way the author has described the early times and his life. Everything was well connected.
MY FINAL VERDICT
If you’re someone who has been looking for a book that would describe the beginning of Modern India, the different changes that took place in our system and its effect on the people, this book would be an ideal read. It also traces over the early filmmaking methods and the author provides an overall insight not only on his life but also on the changes around him.
POESY IN CHRYSALIS RATING : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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