“Breaking Ties” by Sara Aboobacker, translated into English by Vanamala Viswanatha, was part of our optional English syllabus. The original is written in Kannada, titled “Chandragiriya Theeradalli” (1981).
The book follows Nadira, a Muslim girl in coastal Karnataka. It has a two part structure: the first part depicts her genuine, loving marriage to Rasheed, and the second part uncovers her suffering; starting when Rasheed’s father destroys the marriage by spreading rumors about them, just because Rasheed wouldn’t lend him money for his own daughter’s wedding. After that Nadira, uneducated and illiterate, is left with no way to stand up for herself, and is eventually remarried against her will to a middle aged man, only to through the humiliating process of triple talaq. The river Chandragiri, from the original title, runs through the whole story as a symbol, and honestly it feels like more of a character than a setting by the end.
I found out much later that some real events involving Sara Aboobacker’s own maid inspired the novel, although one cannot say for sure how much of the story is actually true; after all it’s still fiction, that is perhaps shaped by something real. The book also presents the story of two marriages, parallely: Fatima and Mohammed Khan’s, where he beats her constantly, along with Rasheed and Nadira’s, which starts off as a genuinely happy bond, until it gets torn apart. For me, reading both together made the point hit so much harder.
The first time it struck me that this was a translation was when I read the word “Papu”, used for Nadira’s son throughout the book, a term for a small child in Karnataka. One day a friend was reading the same book in Kannada, and when I asked her about it she said it was originally by Sara Aboobacker, titled “Chandragiriya Theeradalli”. That’s when I realised that I was reading a translation; her descriptions of coastal Muslim life felt authentic.
By the time I finished this book, it wrecked me a little. Nadira ends her life in the river rather than spend even one night with another man just to be remarried to Rasheed. Since I belong to the same community and religion, it hit close, how easily young girls are married off, how women get treated as disposable. I texted a friend right after, telling them I finished it in one go, and the book left me devastated. Then, I went for a walk to just breathe. What made me angry, rather than sad, honestly, was how far the triple talaq in the book was from the actual Islamic procedure — done carelessly, out of ego, without even telling Nadira.
I still think “Chandragiriya Theeradalli” fits the story better than “Breaking Ties”. The river isn't background, it is where everything ends.
Published October 13, 2026
