Abstract
Dr Laxmi Kathuria. Biggy–Kee Khenda: The Difficulties in Dealing with Dementia. Devon, UK: Indigo Dreams Publishing, 2014. 9781909357389; 186pp.: £8.95 (pbk)
I ate this book up like a ravenous person in front of an Indian feast. I had a lump in my throat by page 2 and by the end was laughing out loud and crying at the same time. The only thing I didn’t like was the subtitle “…Dealing with Dementia”: this book is not simply about dementia, but much more than that. It is a homage to a tiny woman, Biggy – Kee Khenda, otherwise known as “Big Mama”. Despite her diminutive size, she had an enormous spirit, and the book is really about the way she held everyone together amidst some of the harshest times experienced by an Asian–Scottish family in Glasgow.
Biggy was born in India, had little education, married very young then fell in love with her husband “Papa Ji” and moved with him to Kenya where they settled for many years. Family was so important to her that, when her son was a homesick student in the UK, she moved the whole family to Glasgow to support him. Her story, and that of the family, is told by her psychiatrist granddaughter who, with her mother, sisters and brothers, was cared for by Biggy over many years when escaping domestic violence. Biggy was the constant, in the midst of this turbulence, and despite the author doing her Highers from a women’s refuge, she and her siblings have clearly grown into confident successful adults, very much thanks to Biggy.
The book documents Biggy’s sad decline into dementia and the way the family have had to deal with that. These aspects of the book will no doubt be helpful to anyone going through similar issues, but the book deserves to be read by a much wider audience than only those dealing with dementia.