A match made in heaven
Reviewed by Aditi Garg

Soul-Mates
by Col. Malvinder Singh Sandhu.
Distributed by purushottam-bookstore.com&power-publishers.com
Pages 264. Rs 350

True love knows no bounds. It endures the toughest tests, scales the highest boundaries and flows through time endlessly. On the other hand savage lust scars for life and there is no pain bigger than to live through pain inflicted mindlessly by another. There are many who go through a living hell not just because of their physical and emotional pain but also because of the stigma that society shamelessly chooses to impose on the victims of rape. Few find someone who is willing to overlook it and accept her as a normal, respectable woman who should not suffer for another's faults. But those who do, value it more than anything else.

Col. Malvinder Singh Sandhu has articulated the agony of a rape victim and how it is brushed under the carpet for the fear of going through taunts and shaming at the hands of society at large. Sandhu was born in an agricultural family of Punjab and what he lacked in terms of a prime public education, he made up for with hard work and dedication. He graduated from the Indian Military Academy in 1967 and after joining Army Ordinance Corps, he learnt Japanese and earned the distinction of becoming a Japanese language interpreter. Having started writing as a septuagenarian, he was first published in 2012.

Times may have changed in terms of technology and progress but society remains regressive when it comes to dealing with something as sensitive as rape. There is a prevalent tendency to blame the victim or distance themselves from her. The book, Soul-Mates, revolves around the story of Reema, a Bengali girl who was raped by someone who she least expected to even look at her in a manner other than that of respect. But troubling times are the times when you can test those around you. It was then that she found unconditional support and love in the form of her soul-mate. He not just helped her tide over the devastation but also stayed besides her throughout like a rock. Not one to be cowed down, she managed to make a place for herself in the upper echelons of society. But every time she found a place that made her feel in control, deceit and conspiracy plagued her, landing her in jail again and again. It is a book that is simple but powerful in its presentation and is made more convincing and forceful by the use of local lingo that connects you to the characters. Reema's character is very well developed and so nuanced that it could just as well be a narration of a real-life story. Her hardships are what every woman encounters but it is her decisions that make her unique.

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