Love, Anatomy and Coconut Chutney

Speak up? You’re difficult. Disagree? You’re arrogant. Say no? You’re frigid. Say yes? You’re easy. The goal was to be desirable — but not too desirable. Friendly – but not too friendly. You had to land perfectly in that tiny sweet spot between ‘available’ and ‘wife material’. Otherwise? You’d pay. Six girls walk into a medical college in Kerala with dreams in their eyes. Between cramming for exams, late-night duties, friendships put to the test, family expectations to marry suitably, and the occasional doomed romance, their lives take unexpected turns. After all, textbooks might have taught them medicine, but the real-life lessons happen at 2 a.m. in the girls’ hostel over Maggi and hot coffee, in whispered confessions and furious rants. Eventually they walk out as doctors, aware of exactly what it costs to dream big in a world that may not always have their backs. Narrated with wit and tenderness, Love, Anatomy and Coconut Chutney is much more than a coming-of-age story, resonating with anyone who has eve chased a future under pressure, only to realize the final exam was life itself. Priya Mary Jacob & Sajna V M Kutty studied medicine in the late nineties and currently work as consultant oncopathologists in tertiary cancer care centres in Kerala, India. Drawing on shared experiences, and stories passed from one batch to another, their thought-provoking debut novel explores the societal and professional challenges women face in the world of medicine.