Book Review : 'Beneath a Rougher Sea ' by Susmita Bagchi

I got this book at the time, when so many people are talking about it. Susmita Bagchi’s ‘Beneath a Rougher Sea’ talks of an illness of the mind, with all the simplicity and subtle judgement, it could muster. 

It is not an untouched subject here, with Deepika Padukone talking about it. It was a previously unspoken about subject, for which the actor raised enough publicity and talk, saying that she, herself had suffered from depression for a period of time.

John F Nash Jr

Prior to this, we of course had, the famous John Forbes Nash Jr, an American mathematician and a movie around his life, ‘A Beautiful Mind’ suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. His struggles with it are well-known.

Let me talk of the review of this book, Aditya, a psychiatrist who is constantly busy with work. The problems, he faces are many. His patients deal with depression, delusions, sexuality all in the hyper standard.

Taking it all in as part of tread, one day he is surprised to hear of his former love being in town. She is the mother of a young boy, who is suffering from schizophrenia and herself, in denial of the same. It is up to Aditya to deal with his situation, when he finds out more and more about the young boy, his ‘friend’ and father.

The doctor’s own problems are many. His own family had psychiatric problems, even leading to a much loved aunt’s death. On finding out about her problem, he had decided to step away from his family of regular doctors and instead, became a psychiatrist.  

The cases, he deals with are also part of this story. All of them are blended wonderfully into the story. Of course, there were times when I felt the whole thing was a little too much. So, I would recommend that the reader take a break between the pages of the book and finish up the next day :).

With a need for sympathy and empathy, this doctor and his wife, a children’s doctor herself, find little time for themselves. Considering a multi-disciplinary health facility, with the help of his wife, and his friends, a doctor and a patient, this story draws to an end. But, with enough for the readers to think about…

You can Buy the Book, right here.