[The Hindu]: Close in the bone
Chukka Srinivas
[Originally posted to alt.india.progressive by
Sekhar Ramakrishnan. I remember seeing 'Katha-92',
'Katha-94' in Telugu. And do not exactly recall it
they were short stories or translations.
Does anybody know if they are also published by
the same people as that of Katha Prize Stories,
reviewed here - srinivas].
Close in the bone
ADITYA MUKHERJEE
Date: 02-03-1997 :: Pg: 40 :: Col: e
IN these worst of times as the socio-political order falls apart into a
disgusting jumble, it becomes all the more relevant for an author to write
`in a spirit of integral pessismism' about decadence and dissonance; about
atrophied idealism and subversive ideology that have become the bane of a
society like ours.
The latest volume of Katha Prize Stories is a brave attempt to lift the
lid off a social system sinking into moral atrophy and lurching along a
self-destructive path. The stories translated from all major Indian
languages conjure up images of despair and frustration as vulnerable
individuals are trapped in a chaotic, directionless world trying to hide
behind the haze of their smug will to live, clinging on to their
`pernicious and incurable optimism.'
Take N. S. Madhavan's Malayalam story Mumbai. Here the central character
Aziz has to brave a barrage of problems in securing his passport. He is
born in Kerala in Paang district, a name the passport authorities find
unable to believe. His cup of misery overflows when the authorities ask
Aziz to locate the place in the map or explain the meaning of the word
``Paang''. And all hell breaks loose when Aziz in all his innocence and
naivety informs the authorities that he came to India after 1971. Aziz is
not only denied his passport but also is dubbed an infiltrator. He becomes
an object of suspicion as two policemen are posted outside the building
where he stays.
Jayanta Chakravarty's Assamese story, A Dip in the Sangam is about the
corpse of a young girl discovered on the banks of a river. Instead of
arranging for the funeral rites of the girl, the villagers comprising both
Hindus and Muslims become more interested in ascertaining the caste of the
girl. The patina of communal harmony is stripped off by the poison of
suspicion as claims of compassion and love fly in the face of paranoid
fears. Though the girl is buried, the author crystallises the unfortunate
girl's personal anguish that floods out in a torrent of revulsion: ``Ma, I
need no longer stay in this Ramrajya. Give me shelter in your bosom, Ma.''
Mohinder Singh Sarna's Punjabi story, Ek Omkar Satnam _ 1935 recreates the
bleak and gloomy world of Zeenat and Bakar Hussain, a Muslim couple,
victims of partition. The couple have hit a rough path after settling down
in Pakistan. The ailing Zeenat suffers from bouts of depression as memories
of her relatives staying in India come flooding back. Moreover, the tragic
death of her only son and then her emotionally shattered mother-in-law
drives her almost over the edge. Her husband Bakar who had a flourishing
fruit shop in Purquazi fails to secure a job in Pakistan. Despair and
bitterness robs him of his sanity as one day a flash of lightning lights
up a marble slab on the facade which had Ek Omkar Satnam-1935 engraved on
it. Knocking his logic and reason into a cocked hat, Bakar has the feeling
that since the house in which they stay belonged to a Sikh, a curse has
fallen on his family. However, it is his wife Zeenat who vehemently
resists and resents her husband's mindless acridity and even hits her
forehead with a chisel to make him see reason.
The story is moving in its subtle insight into a confused and troubled
human psyche grappling with its contradictions.
The Marathi story, `Jamuna' by Rawindra Pinge evokes with poignancy the
plight of a widow knocked around by her husband's family, who is sold like
a commodity from one person to another simply because there are already
seven mouths to feed in the family. She is even directed by the panchayat
to stay away from her daughter after her marriage. The story is a painful
reminder of the unending trial and tribulations of Indian women who are
still being given a raw deal in a heartless society.
Priya Tendulkar's moving Marathi story, A Woman Called Asai is a
sympathetic portrait of a woman suffering the buffets of neglect and
stoicism as she grapples with death in a Mumbai nursing home. Given the
brush-off by her sons and daughters and denied the consolation of
security, she wages a lonely battle for survival. She even refuses to take
her daughter's monetary assistance. The show of sympathy by her sons
assumes a farcical quality as no one gives her the emotional strength
needed at this age. With her sons and daughters busy in making a fast
buck, the old woman draws on her inner strength to stick her chin out in
the teeth of life's reverses.
The Kannada story, The Violation by P. Lankesh is perhaps one of the best
stories in this collection. The author uses human relationship as a
metaphor for continuity and harmony in a caste- based society.
The narrator whose father works in Yajamana's house (head of the village)
develops an admiration for the latter. A Brahmin, Yajamana is a
disciplined man with a religious bent of mind. Owner of thousands of acres
of land, Yajamana always encourages the narrator to become an educated
person as his own son proves to be a failure. The author grows up from a
shy boy to a responsible and sensitive person. He retains his affection
and regard for Yajamana, but most of the narrator's friends engulfed in
their misplaced fervour launch an anti-zamindari-crusade. Even a noble and
harmless man like Yajamana who has never been cruel towards anyone in his
life bear the brunt of this movement. Yajamana is dispossesed of his land
and is almost reduced to penury. The tragic destiny of people like Yajamana
exposes the hollow nature of today's political movements where passions
are whipped up in the name of caste and religion.
Shaukat Hayat's brilliant Urdu story, Pigeons of the Dome uses the
homeless pigeons as metaphor for chaos, homelessness and displacement that
pervaded the lives of thousands of unfortunate people in the wake of the
demolition of the mosque. The story is about a young man and his
neighbour, Sen dada, a lecherous man whose wife is dead. When they visit
Mr. Thomson's house, a pigeon files into the house to escape being
captured. The young woman Reza, who looks after Mr. Thomson, pities the
pigeon and sets it free much to the chargrin of the person who wanted to
make soup by killing it. The story ends on a note of despair as the
pigeons circling the skies look for their homes, as the dome which
happened to be their shelter has been razed to the gound.
The editors of Katha need to be complimented for showcasing the best of
Indian short stories.
Katha Prize Stories. Volume 6, Edited by Geeta
Dharmarajan, Meenakshi Sharma, Rs. 150 (paper back)