Six years since publication, Wonder Girls remains essential reading for Indian millennials seeking authentic stories of women defying convention.

If They Can Do It, So Can You!

Imagine someone walking up to you, saying, “You, my friend, can do anything in the world. Anybody can achieve their dream. Don’t believe me? Here are the examples,” and hands you a book. How would you feel? Well, the imagination itself made me feel unstoppable, and now, my imagination turned into reality. And that someone is Varsha Adusumilli with her debut book ‘Wonder Girls’. 

Though I am not an avid reader, I do try and get my hands on good books once in a while. One of my favourite YouTubers, Urvashi Govredhan, spoke about this book in one of her videos and even interviewed the author of the book. That was it. I had to buy the book the very next day. I finished the book in two sittings. If you are an ardent reader, you can finish this book in one go.

What Is Wonder Girls About?

‘Wonder Girls’ is a compilation of fifteen stories, of millennial women who chose to follow their passion unapologetically. I am not going to tell you the story of how Varsha started off with the book or why she did so, for a million other articles have already spoken about it. No, don’t Google them. Buy the book. It’s in there as well.

What makes this book special? The women who chose to tell their stories. They are not a bunch of urban women who studied at Harvard University and are now CEOs of multinational companies. They are like you and me, from normal backgrounds, with no exceptional resources and innumerable obstacles. Yet, they did what they wanted to do and that’s what’s inspiring. We relate to their stories. In fact, that is the primary motto of this book, to provide relatable role models.

Incorporation Of Struggle And Success

The book has stories of successful women who chose unconventional career paths. Sounds great! But, they don’t just contain their achievement stories or who they met in the process. ‘Wonder Girls’ mentions the beginnings, the definitive moments and why they chose to do what they do. What were the moments that made them feel like they want to quit but didn’t, and literally everything a young girl who is burning with passion needs to know.

As mentioned earlier, another beautiful thing about this book is that the women mentioned are not 50 or 60 and their stories don’t happen in the 1940s. It’s happening now, they are all alive and that’s why it’s highly relevant. It makes every young girl reading the book feel like, ‘I can do it too for these women did it right in front of my eyes.’

Why It’s Not Just For Millennial Women

This book is not relevant only to young women. It is also important for parents, siblings, husbands and almost everyone to have a look at this book, for it shows how important it is to have a strong supporting family. It talks about how important it is, to not just let the women do whatever they want, but also provide them with the kind of support and resources they need.

We can’t create a champion racer by just letting them know that they are allowed to be one. We need to get them the right trainers, fill them with courage, strength and support whenever needed. Varsha Adusumalli strikes the right note in explaining this point.

Hence this book doesn’t fall into a particular genre and is a must read for everyone.

An Life-Guide For Gen Z

An interesting thing about this book is that it is in the first person, making you feel like the woman herself is speaking to you about her journey, ordeal and achievements, creating a strong impact. Every line in the book is so cleverly positioned in each story, creating the right effect and highlighting the important points.

It’s immensely fascinating how this book is going to be relatable to a lot of women on various levels. Almost all the women who read the book mentioned a point in their review/feedback. They wished that they had access to something like this when they were young. It’s exciting to know that the Gen Z will now get to know incredible stories of women they can relate to.

My favourite story from the book was of Nilparna Sen. Her journey from being a difficult teenager to a fitness coach and now a CEO is exemplary and thoroughly inspiring.

Wonder Girls has shifted my perception about a lot of things and moved me in so many ways, for the right reasons. I highly recommend this book and hope it inspires you too.