First things first—many thanks to the Publisher and the translator for bringing these stories to the world and for bringing back Bhuwaneshwar from the obscurity for us, who would otherwise never have known of this genius.
One thing you'll notice is the beginning
of all these 12 stories. The writer immediately sets such a background with
philosophical or narrative or scenic description, that you'll be drawn to it.
In the Sun Worship, a sickly student and a doctor are trudging the dark, damp and dingy isolated city in the night and are at the cusp of hopelessness, disgust and optimism. The images and the dialogues are so piercing that they'll stick with you forever. The story is a timeless worship on human condition. The existential crisis among pre-independence people is so evident in the story. A Glimpse of Life is a story of a 65 year old man who is in his death bed, and his devoted wife. Love and memory are the center of the story. Alas, the Human Heart and Aunty are stories of deep-seated love but the turn of events takes us from horror to tragic latitudes. It must be a wit and generosity of the writer, that he allows readers themselves to understand the story for its subtlety.
Why are there so many duplicates when the original itself is so
despicable?... I don't know—I don't know how anyone can live
without having a compelling contract with life. – Sun Worship
The story of Freedom: A Letter
must definitely had been a revolutionary in those days when it was published,
when today it is still a societal cult when a woman decides to raise a child
born without a wedlock on her own. The metaphors and remarks appeal and reflect
upon life and freedom and their vitals. It is sometimes bleak but the character
come out victorious at last. In the Womb of the Future is set in the backdrop
Spanish Civil War. It can be considered a classic war story of love, war,
tragedy and devotion. Masterni revolves around a Christian woman who
teaches children in a Hindu village. It must have been rare that such stories
of beyond the curtain of colonialism were written during those times. The empathy
and emptiness shaped in the story is at core a facet of personal ruins created
during those times of hegemony.
Don't you feel that we neither live our lives nor die our own deaths?
The charity hospital-gown-like life neither looks good nor fits well, and, even
if it is clean and washed, death inhabits it like the stench of chloroform… Man
himself has created birth and death so that it may elevate himself with these poetics.
– Freedom: A Letter
It was dawn in the Carcasonne region of France. The cruel rays of
Helios had attacked the earth after slaughtering the stars. The face of the
firmament was red with anger. But it grew calmer upon seeing its unchallenged
dominance spread through the atmosphere. Who could tell when the flame of
revenge flickering in its depths would flare up into a blaze? – In the Womb of
the Future
Mother and Sons is one of
the most dramatic tragedy-comedy stories in the collection. But at deeper level,
the observation of a dying woman and of course that of the author touches those
inner layers of human characters and fate, such that the rawness and the
vulnerability of life becomes palpable. One Night, like the author says
at last, is just like a poetry. You'll just collect the ripples as you move
along the story. Bhuwaneshwar's stories effortlessly gives life to the
characters and images, just as easily as breathing. The inner world of Prema
seems exotic, but by the end, all fits so well! So is the story Postmaster.
The open ends of Bhuwaneshwar's stories shows his understanding and power of
storytelling.
When the pace of life quickens, it turns into something like ease. It
seem that we have conquered our bonds and boundaries, we have moved on from
struggle, but this is a difficult delusion. We don't realize it and neither did
the poor postmaster… Imagination is resistance against life and nature. –
Postmaster
War is another keen and
observant story. Set inside a rail, the harmony inside the disharmony, the
comedy inside the meaninglessness and the drama of the characters makes it one
of the liveliest stories of the collection. The last story of the collection Wolves
is probably one of the best tales as gripping as those of Marquez or Grimm
Brothers. When the story makes you believe the improbable feat, the story has
won. Wolves proves Bhuwaneshwar's strength as a great storyteller.
You won't find age-old clichés in the stories. Bhuwaneshwar takes the meaning in simple and caustic words and put it in front of your face—you are shocked, taken aback or just want to cry sometimes or reflect in horror. The deviation in the style proves the wittiness of the writer and his attention to detail and differentiation. I have said it before, the intro for every story is unique and a signature style of the author, where he mixes his colors of the story like an artist does in his palette. Individual dilemmas, moods and crisis are so much objectively presented in these stories, none of them seems like they cannot fit or blend with our lives today. You'll feel the intensity burning inside the characters; you cannot escape their fate; you become a part of their lives.
Original Text: Hindi
Translator: Saudamini Deo
Publisher: Seagull Books https://www.seagullbooks.org
No comments:
Post a Comment