Ritu weds Chandni Book Review

Ritu weds Chandni

By Ameya Narvankar

Expected publication: winter 2020 from Yali Books

Mom's Review

If you're following us on Instagram (@winemilkbooks), you may have already seen me gush about Ritu weds Chandi. This picture book featuring two Indian brides is beautiful. The cover art drew me to it, but the story is what makes it a keeper. 

Ayesha is a little girl who is thrilled to be going to her cousin's wedding; she is excited to dance in the wedding procession, the baraat. When she arrives at her cousin Ritu's house to begin the procession, she is confused to learn that many family members and neighbors are opposed to Ritu marrying her girlfriend, Chandi. As the baraat proceeds toward the wedding location, it is confronted with verbal abuse and bigoted assault, culminating in the brides being doused with water. Ayesha saves the day. Upon seeing her beloved Ritu heartbroken, she stands up to the mounted, hose-wielding neighbors and says that she is excited for her cousin and is going to dance in her baraat. Then she does. Her joy is contagious, and Ritu's and Chandni's baraats both reach the wedding location amid singing and dancing. 

The final two pages are illustrations only. The message is clear: there is no need for words to convey the love that Ayesha's family shares. The final page is plastered with Polaroids of the wedding, emphasizing the happy memories outweighing the wedding-day trouble. Narvankar's illustrations do exactly what illustrations should: enhance and expand on the story. The joy is palpable. The fear is keen. When Ayesha's family celebrates, bright colors and smiling faces crowd the pages. As trouble brews, they shrink in size until they are tiny next to monstrous horses carrying angry protestors. Even the hateful are beautifully drawn; it is as though even prejudice cannot take the beauty away from Ayesha's pure love for her cousin and soon-to-be cousin-in-law.

Ritu weds Chandi is an eye-catching celebration of family, self-assurance, and love. Pick it up for the pictures. Read it again and again for the pictures and the story. 

Do be prepared for conversations about why some people don't want to let Ritu and Chandni lead baraats or marry each other. One of the characters points out that baraats are usually led by grooms, so we focused on the break with this tradition in our discourse.

Back matter includes not only a glossary of Hindi words but also a note from the author explaining his impetus for writing. As a boy growing up in India, he did not see loving homosexual relationships in media; he wrote to share a story of love that would appeal to readers' hearts. He featured women rather than men because he "could see that these society expectations carry far more weight for women."

Son's Review

(Age: 5)

It has a scary part. The horses look gigantic. See, I told you it has a scary part! And those people [the baraatis] are so tiny they don't even have eyes.

I think that it is an embarrassing book. It makes me feel embarrassed because of the part where the child tried to stop the horse riders. I say only grown-ups are allowed to do that because they know more than kids. Ayesha stopped the riders to make the people, the big crowd of people not on horses be embarrassed. They were doing something they should be embarrassed about: it's not stopping the horse riders.

I did not like it because it made me feel embarrassed and I don't like that feeling. 

I did like the art. I liked the pictures. All those picture from the wedding is my favorite page. I like all those pictures from the wedding. Chaci is my favorite character. 

Note: A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.