Sothu Geddavalu: She who Lost and Won

Triveni’s Sothu Geddavalu is the story of Bharati, who is the daughter of a poor family. But because of her extraordinary beauty she is able to marry Ananda, whi is an engineer and the only son of rich parents. A few months after the marriage Anand’s employers depute him for higher training in England. Bharati, who is left behind with her old parents’-in-law is seduced by Chandu, her mother-in-law’s younger brother. Eighteen year-old Bharati succeumbs to Chandu under the relentless pressure of her own unfulfilled sexual needs. She then tries to save herself from the difficult situation prompted to her love and loyalty towards her absent husband. When her parents’-in-law discover the affair between Bharati and Chandu they condemn Bharati and ask to leave the house. But Bharati sticks to her resolution of facing the situation and begging Anand’s forgiveness before she takes any other decision. Published in 1957, she who Lost and Won is an unusual story about an extraordinarily loyal and remorseful young woman who is ultimately the hapless victim of a male-dominated system wherein her winning or losing is equally meaningless. This novel has been translated into English for the first time.