Shree reviews ‘Light Inspired’, by Anuradha Bhattacharyya, a fictionalised account of an educationist who overcomes poverty to educate the underprivileged in India, exclusively for Different Truths.

‘Light Inspired’ is a book written based on the real life of an educationist who traversed all hurdles to educate the backward and unprivileged people in India. Although the author, Anuradha Bhattacharyya prefers to classify the book as fiction inspired by real life, the thorough research she has done on the gentleman’s life reflects her writing style and emerges more as a non-fiction narration in the form of storytelling.

The protagonist of the book evolves unexpectedly as a character who transitioned from being born in a poverty-stricken family, always being stubborn and ignorant about their situation, arguing, and quarrelling about anything and everything that he is deprived of due to the family’s financial crunch, to an enthusiast whose motto of life becomes spreading the light of wisdom and illuminate several lives and hearts, who have been similarly deprived.

The author has sectioned the book into important aspects of the underprivileged society that Deepu, the main character, had to deal with when he delved into spreading basic knowledge amongst them – for example, wealth, health, education, electricity, tap water, etc. He realised that everything is interconnected. He also realised that he would receive minimum help from the political leaders for the remotest locations he visited to teach students. Hence, he decided to resolve the issues by himself, no matter how many obstacles he had to crossover. He also inspired a few local people who were somewhat fascinated by his unconditional voluntary services towards shaping the tribal and backward communities. Deepu had to make his teaching process extremely organic and interesting, involving nature and the way of lives these people were being raised in. The story ultimately reveals whether his unfathomable passion and drive for his duties showed any success in his endeavours or not.

The author has followed a very sensitive path of storytelling to describe the journey and intention of the incredible educationist and voluntary community worker. Her narratives are vivid and thorough and transport the reader to the actual setting and ambience of the story. As an academician, she has established her grip on language and vocabulary. She has shown immense strength in her research work to write the book. Since the chapters of the book deal with the social issues of the community, there are some repetitions of the facts from start to finish in the first few chapters. In a few sections, readers might feel too much information being fed without the story being progressed. This writing style has slightly hindered the lucid flow of the story-telling and developed more as a written documentary – even though from the author’s point of view it might have been necessary.

What I like is the significance of the title of the book. ‘Deepu’, the name of the protagonist, is a loving form of the name ‘Deep’ which means light. Here in the book, Deepu’s story will inspire millions and guide them to follow their duties and services which they are unconditionally passionate about. Hence the title ‘Light Inspired’.

I will recommend the book to readers, who enjoy reading real life inspirational stories, with evocative narration.

Photo of book cover sourced by the reviewer

Shree Mukherjee

Shree Mukherjee is an award-winning author and film-writer. Professionally, she is an entrepreneur. She is also trained in Indian classical dance and music, and enjoys acting, watching movies, painting and gardening. Shree has participated in public speaking / inspirational talk events. She belongs to Asian-Indian ethnicity, a British national, currently resides in Houston, Texas and has a unique amalgamation of stories to offer. Shree has bagged numerous awards and accolades for her books and screenplays.