Summary of The Glass Bead Curtain

Kalyani and Athai, two feisty women, sail through the turn-of- the century Madras Presidency
under British rule, despite archaic and tyrannical customs such as child marriage and gender
bias. Kalyani goes through a child marriage that ends her formal education because of a
prevalent superstition that married girls would be widowed if sent to school. Educated at
home by her intrepid Irish tutor, Susan OLeary, Kalyani joyfully soaks in Shakespeare and
Bacon.
Packed off to her husbands home at the onset of puberty, she faces the taunts of her
retrograde female-in- laws as she has grown taller than her husband Natrajan. Athai, on the
other hand, uses her widowhood to advantage by pursuing her education at home. The family
discovers an astonishing secret about her when she dies.

Kalyani battles her way through funny situations to evolve as a successful badminton coach
with the support of her husband and her father-in- law. Ambujam, her mother-in- law mocks
her English and English education but is forced to seek Kalyanis help for her daughter
Karpagam, rejected by her husband for not knowing English. Mani, Kalyani and Natrajans
son breaks away from the tall, fair, convent-educated syndrome to bring home a dusky
complexioned bride.

Kalyanis story is written by Shailaja capturing the changing ethos of those times with irony,
pathos and humour.