Ants flying into the sky | Review of ‘Swallowing the Sun’ by Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri

A captivating novel set in early 20th century Maharashtra follows three girls navigating societal expectations and personal aspirations.

This novel gets its beguiling title from the saintly Muktabai’s abhang: 

The ant flies into the sky,

She swallows the sun.

Another miracle!

A barren woman begets a son.

The story is about three girls growing up in the early 20th century in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri. Surekha, at 15, is “getting too old” and so her marriage is arranged to the mighty Vilas Rao of Vaishali who is only a few years younger than her father. She is to be his second wife. The two other sisters, spirited Malati and cautious Kamala, get a chance to “fly into the sky”. 

They are ‘allowed’ to be educated and decide the course of their destinies against a social backdrop where Maharishi Karve, Gandhi, Annie Besant, and Mohan Malaviya, amongst others, are waging an active movement for equal participation by women in public life.