A Home for Urvashi-Sanchali Bhattacharya

Book: A Home for Urvashi
Author: Sanchali Bhattacharya
Publisher: HarperCollins India

Do you think your past can come to change your present?

A Home for Urvashi by Sanchali Bhattacharya is a story that depicts the bond of sisterhood that transcends death. Dulari is separated from her twin sister Ujjwala as death knocks on her doors when they are born. With an ability to travel between worlds as a ghost, but she has to live alone, without a family, however she has a dream, to be reborn as Ujjwala’s daughter and have a home. Twenty-nine years pass by in this hope. While Ujjwala’s first born is a boy, she now longs for a daughter. Things take a turn when a person from her past turns up, threatening to expose a secret that can destroy her completely. Only Dulari has the ability to save her sister, but she would have to let go of her dream. Would she intervene and save her, or would her belonging for live overpower the love for her sister?

A lot of stories have been told where an unrequited lover from the past comes into someone’s life to disrupt it, however Sanchali has taken it to an interesting arc. Choosing a ghost as a narrator is the first off-beat thing that greets the reader. The plot is well crafted and covers a lot of aspects from love to relationships. She has explored a world that exists beyond life and used that as an interesting premise to explore the events of the past. The language is quite interesting that it is simple, yet very relevant to the location and the characters. My favorite aspect of the story is how there are parallel story tracks that are in play at a certain point. Another aspect that stands out is how the concept of the planets is used to explore the netherworld. Sanchali has used the myth of Urvashi as a foundation to tell the story of Dulari and Ujjwala. She has also used the story to comment on social evils in the society. The imagery is vivid and helps the reader connect to the plot. The climax is interesting and innovative.

Coming to the characters, Sanchali has told the story with some very wonderful characters. While the character arc of Ujjwala doesn’t change much, Dulari comes a long way from the character we come across on the first page. Rituraj is another character that is very well crafted and the message that the author wants to project comes across very well. Other characters in the plot such as Rhea, Yash etc. are given due time to develop and become a cohesive part of the narrative.

One thing that stands out from the story is the detailed descriptions of Kolkata, its taxis, food, and the life that makes the story come alive.

A well-told story, the book scores a 4.38/5 for me.

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