The notebook

THE NOTEBOOK Rabindranath Tagore is a celebrated Indian writer who wrote several poems, short stories and novels. He is the only Indian writer to win a Nobel Prize for Literature. Tagore’s short stories are read all over the world and especially India simply for their middle class flavour and a simultaneous modern approach. Besides depicting a vivid picture of Bengal, the stories also represent a complex and varied picture of a society in transition. His stories evoke emotion and humour and are a treat for the readers. ‘The Notebook’ is an emotional story that reflects on child-marriage and the importance of educating a girl child. As a young child, Uma loved reading and writing and would scribble on anything and everything. Once Uma’s elder brother gifts her a notebook and she begins to pen down her thoughts in it. At the time of her marriage to Pyarimohan, Uma carries the notebook along to her in-laws’ house, oblivious of the fact that her in-laws believe that girls should not be educated at all.