The principal character of ‘The Rule Breakers’, Veda has great depth. And this is a story you should read for her strength in her turbulent life journey – aspirations, disappointments and hope.

Veda is the eldest of 5 children of a family based in Joshimath. She does very well in studies and hope to make a career for herself. However, her conservative middle class parents believe she should get married quickly and she bows to their wishes. This is a time when a friendship is developing with Suraj who is her classmate.

Veda moves to Pune after marriage, and finds life losing meaning. She struggles with coping with college, work at home and the attitude of her mother-in-law. There are a series of letters in the book between her, her sister Vidya and friend Suraj. These letter are very well written and a delight to read. I especially d the exchanges between Veda and Vidya. Veda gets involved with ‘Sankalp’ – an organisation to promote learning among under-privileged children. Veda sees a sense of purpose creeping into her life finally, but there are more troubles to come.

Some aspects of the story could have been better, but Veda makes up for the book’s other shortcomings.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.
21 s Padmaja165 1 follower

Yet another beautiful book by Preeti Shenoy. I finished this book in two sittings as the story was very good and engaging.
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Veda, our protagonist, hails from a small town, Joshimath. Veda is an obedient child, excelling in academics, always following the path her parents set for her, never standing up for herself despite knowing about the consequences they will have. Her sister, (firebrand) Vidya, is her support system. Veda has an unrequited crush on Suraj, her classmate, but does nothing about it, fearing her parents' wrath. She unwillingly gets married to Bhuwan, at the age of 20. She is unhappy in her marriage.Bhuwan is understanding and caring, yet is hiding a secret, which would change the course of their married life forever.
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A chance meeting with Bhuwan's childhood friend, Kanika, a strong willed, confident woman, leds her to work with Sankalp, an NGO for children. There, Kanika and Veda meets Ron, who has come from England to film Sankalp, since the foundation he works for funds the NGO. He stays back to teach the children with Kanika and Veda. The three of them pour their heart in teaching the children. But some things turn sour and the three are accused of something which they're totally against for. I won't give away the climax, it was totally unexpected, as it'll spoil the entire book for you.
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I loved the setting of the book. The language as in all Shenoy's books was simple and nothing was sugar coated. Letter writing, the story set in the 90s, and the realistic setting won me over. I to read such books from time to time.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review10 s Reading_ Tamishly4,826 2,969

This is the first book I am reading that is written by Preeti Shenoy and I am glad her writing turned out to be somewhat better than I had expected.
The story centers around Veda, a girl residing in Joshimath, a sleepy mountain town, with her siblings - Vidya, Vandana, Vaishali & Animesh along with their strict father and meek mother.
*Highlights:
Even though the story is set in the 1990s, some points are still relevant today ??A reserved family, with the so called head of the family decides the fate of the remaining family members where the decisions taken by the women or the children are not taken into consideration where they are expected to keep quiet & blindly follow what has been dec8ded for them ??Girl child education is still not taken much importance as is shown in the story
??Marriages are still fixed or arranged as per the wishes of the elders & the so-called aunties who poke their noses in the matters of every family known or unknown to them
??Matters of choosing our own profession & life partners - for that matter , any major life decisions- are still taken for granted ??In short, we cannot have a mind/life of our own and in order to show 'respect' we have to follow the so called rules of the society till the end.
But what happens when we try to break the rules?
Veda, though a very intelligent & beautiful woman, wants to study more & who wants to become a professor in a reputed college,has been married off in a haste so as to lessen the burden of having so many daughters to 'marry off'.
She is the ultimate rule follower & even of her husband turns out to be really supportive of her career choices, she cannot enjoy her marital life; especially with an overbearing, controlling mother-in-law.
Ultimately, she has to give up on her dreams, her career and sacrifice her love for because she obeyed all the rules made for her by others.
Then, there is her sister Vidya who never misses a chance to speak up & act against when her rights get threatened.
Even though she gets the burnt of it from time to time from her own parents, she endures it but in a different way her elder sister does.
But in the end, whose life turns out better with no regrets?

*Some notable points:

??When parents decide everything for their children, does it mean that everything will turn out the best for them?

??Does the mother-in-law knows the sexuality of her own son?

Will she be able to acknowledge it?

Whose fault is it that her own son cannot reveal such an important issue to his own parents?

??A daughter-in-law is not the house maid or someone you can use for your own convenience. She is not a doormat bought for the mother-in-law to rub her anger on a dirty shoe needs to get harshly scrubbed on.

?? Daughters are not the burden in the family. Why don't you answer who is being the burden on the lives of the daughters?

??'Sankalp' as mentioned in the book is very encouraging. It is a nonprofit organization meant to teach the underprivileged children of the slum areas to help ease their education and for them to score better marks in the actual board examination.

Innovative yet there are still manipulating such organization for their own benefit.

??The characters of Veda, Vidya, Kanika(my fav character!) & Ron are applaudable.

They are working for a good cause. And ends up doing that no matter what comes their way.

The story seems a bit dragging in between but it is realistic and relatable.

The handwritten letter times, the landline times have been brought in well as had happened in the 1990s.

Ultimately Veda chose to become a rule breaker and change her life as much to the appreciation of her rule breaker sister, Vidya, in the end.

Overall, it was a very good read.


?? Recommended for those girls/women who feel their lives are governed by your own people and injustice is being done to you.

Even though I can understand how difficult it is to stand up against your own family and relatives, I still feel we should all try to stand up for ourselves before any situation goes worse
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