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There are currently 25 member reviews
for The Milk Lady of Bangalore
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Claire M. (Sarasota, FL)
The Sacred Cow
Upon returning home to India after 20 years in New York, Brahmin Shoba Narayan is greeted in her new building by a neighbor and a cow this woman is bringing in the elevator for the housewarming benediction of her new home. Narayan is nonplussed but then considers, on the advice of the man moving her family in, having the cow bless her apartment as well. And so begins the story of returning to Bangalore and the relationship Narayan forms with Sarala, the milk woman and her cows. Through this friendship and the need to understand the Hindu customs and cow-centric culture to which Narayan was unaware in her former Indian life she unearths lore, science, custom, and loads of facts and myths about the animal. Reverence is everywhere and towards parts of the cow non-Hindus would probably not dwell on like drinking the urine for various health cures, or using the dung to clean with. There is a wealth of information about local cows, the best milk, the color of cows, foreign cows, the grasses and what they deliver to the milk to aid the human who drinks it. It is part of Ayurvedic health regimens, it is the repository of all the gods, it is the sacred cow.
I found this book, though tedious sometimes with all the information, a wonderful cultural addition to a not well-understood custom.
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Myrna M. (Chapel Hill, NC)
You Can Go Home Again
One person's religious tradition is another person's superstition. Shoba Narayan illustrates this charmingly in her paean to her Indian roots. I bring sugar, salt and bread to a new home, a Jewish tradition—she, reluctantly but determinedly, follows her neighbor's by escorting a cow around her new home in Bangalore, a Hindu tradition. It is the thought of blessing that counts.
Narayan's desire to fit snugly into the homeland she left for a lengthy and prosperous life in Manhattan, leads her to a source of fresh milk, straight from the cow, and an unusual friendship with the milk lady. The many uses of milk in the Indian diet was a surprise to me; the many steps one has to take daily to transform the milk into common Indian dishes was astonishing. I admired the author's diligence. I doubt, however, that the slum dwellers who lived next to her modern high rise would have the benefit of time or the money to buy milk on a regular basis. She appears to accept that luxury and poverty living side by side are just the way of India
The author excels in explaining the euphemisms used by the poor she encounters to explain the hardships of their lives. The holiness of cows, though, is the central theme of the book, their significance in the lives of the people. Although the description of the various kinds of cows and their origins became a bit overwhelming, the author's desire to understand the importance of this animal shone through. The lengthy procedure to fulfill her desire to buy a cow in celebration of her father's 80th birthday is described in a factual but humorous manner. It is the author's humor that makes this book interesting and readable.
I have never aspired to travel to India, but this book was a delightful armchair journey.
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Kathy (ME)
Udderly Charming
The Milk Lady of Bangalore is a charming and eccentric blend of memoir and non-fiction told through a bovine lens. While providing a unique and quick peek into India's cultures, religions, history, caste system and languages, it is also a simple tale of a friendship that crosses many of these apparent barriers. Narayan never preaches and manages to avoid dry informational passages; her writing is consistently approachable and often humorous. While cows are the thread tying the whole story together, readers don't need to have a fascination with these creatures to enjoy Narayan's book. I've never read Narayan's previous work, but I loved her perspective as an alternating U.S./Indian citizen and look forward to reading more.
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Susan U. (Milwaukee, WI)
Pleasant surprise
This book had much more depth than I expected, it's a memoir, not a fluff book. I could taste and smell the milk, see the people, see the cows faces and look into their eyes. The author's descriptions were so vivid. Who would have thought there were so many kinds of cows, that their milk tastes different based on what they eat, where they live, how they are treated. And I definitely have a new respect for those that tend and milk the cows. The cows are members of their family - life in India made real. Thank you.
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Courtney N. (Chicago, IL)
Cow Culture
I found this book very interesting in its coverage of why cows are so important in Indian culture and how that manifests itself in daily life. The author as an Indian woman who also had lived in the USA had a unique perspective of both understanding the importance of the cow and also understanding why those outside of the culture don't get it.
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Patricia T. (Fallbrook, CA)
The Milk Lady of Bangalore
If you are looking for an informal tutorial on the Hindu religion, in particular the significance of the cow in every day life, this is for you. Written by an ex-pat returning to India with her family after 20 successful years in the west, it is endearing, and very funny in a dry way. It revolves around her relationship with the local milk lady, and how she deals with the frustrations and contrasts of modern India. We don't really learn how the milk lady feels, just how she lives and reacts to her new friend. A great read for young readers, it will give them a look at another culture in a gentle but genuine way.
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Janice P. (South Woodstock, VT)
A Disappointment
The author is a naturalized US citizen who returns with her husband and family from their privileged lifestyle in midtown Manhattan to her native India, to introduce the children to their heritage. She befriends Sarala, a local vendor who sells fresh raw milk from her own cows,raised right in the heart of the city, for Indian housewives to make their weekly supply of yogurt and paneer.
"Befriends" is the word used on the book's cover, but the author chooses to clarify the two women are not friends, which raises a question for this reader! Their relationship over the years (it's not clear how many), seemingly the focus of the book, serves primarily as a device for weaving together many interesting details about cows in general and their importance in the culture of modern India (and not only for Hindus) which goes far beyond supplying milk. Narayan relates her adventures in learning about cows, with Sarala's help,in a light-hearted tone that has probably more to do with the author's privilege in both nations than with the daily reality for most Indians.
More than once she acknowledges her privilege, claiming to "fret a lot" about a lifestyle with twice as many servants as family members, and guilt that drives her to hide her ample supply of fine saris from her house cleaner ; she goes for therapy and is glad to be told to relax and accept it, just drink warm milk.There seems to be a disconnect between her journalistic honesty and her readiness to make light of the situation and focus on the joy of owning a cow, for her spiritual benefit, that someone else takes care of. Unwittingly, this book reveals more about the author than about her subject or her setting -- which disappointed me, as my interest in India is what led me to read it.
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