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Of everyday life

Last Updated 20 September 2014, 15:32 IST

Obsession: Eternal Stories of Life and Death
Gurpartap Khairah, Bishwa and Stormy, Suraj Sinha
 Tara2014, pp 478 , Rs 299

Obsession: Eternal Stories of Life and Death is an insightful portrayal of realistic anecdotes of human lives. Penned by four authors — Gurpartap Khairah, Suraj Sinha, Bishwa and Stormy — these tales are indeed sensitive representations of contemporary concerns. The 18 stories, six each by Khairah and Sinha and the rest co-authored by Bishwa and Stormy, take the readers on a journey to the innermost consciousness of human beings. 

The variety in the writing styles of the authors adds charm to the reading experience. They have brought in their individual experiences in the narration and plot of their stories. Even though the presentation of the stories differs from author to author, the tales focus on the theme of obsession and the various emotions of ordinary people. The immense and complex layers of human nature seem to have captivated the authors, who bring out the intricacies of man’s behaviour in different circumstances of life.

These chronicles of everyday existence, unfaithfulness, temptations, unhappiness and myriad other emotions showcase the journey of common folks through the ups and downs of life. The stories by Stormy and Bishwa are mostly located in Nepal or connected to Nepal in some way or the other. The introductory story in the book, Ripe Mangoes, sets the tone of the collection and introduces readers to the main theme of all the stories — obsession. The story of a widow who has come all the way from Nepal to Banaras to attain inner peace brings us into close contact with the realisation that it is not easy to give up the material comforts of life. Obsessed by the desire to eat a few mangoes, the woman is tempted to not even share her fortune with her friends until her good conscience makes her realise the futility of such desires. 

The next story by the duo, The Glass Earrings, is equally realistic, but more heart touching. Attachment and obsession are main themes in this story, but unlike the first one, this tale ends on a shocking note. The writers have explored different horizons in all their stories. No Different After All, operating on the metaphor of colour red, portrays the growing relationship between a woman working in a pub and a man who visits it regularly. 

The writers seem to create a scope for readers to think of alternatives by keeping the endings open. We notice that most stories end on a pessimistic note, be it the Hindi film-inspired story, The Last Card, or Yellow Tears, a tragic story of the death of a boy who could not cope up with a life and career forced on him. 

The stories by Suraj Sinha are equally moving and the themes of love and death dominate them. Inglorious Love is a tale of a wife unable to cope up with her husband’s physical condition. For the entire world he is a hero, a soldier who has lost his limbs fighting for the country, but for a wife, reality is beyond that. Sinha’s preoccupation with human relationships and the tug of war between life and death can be seen in all the six stories. A Knife’s Fate, portraying a woman’s fate in marriage in many Indian households, is a story worth reading.

The six stories penned by Gurpartap Khairah are thought-provoking and poignant, an  assortment of human emotions — guilt, desire, lust and longing. The Making of a Married Woman, the icing on the cake, portrays the slow transformation of a lively woman into a mere mechanical puppet in the hands of her husband. 

Letting Go takes the readers along the journey of a mother from despair to reconciliation at the loss of her son. 

Beautifully crafted stories like My Husband’s Best Friend and Voices in the Dark show the colours of relationships. The other two stories, The Home breaker and Killing the Lizard, reveal Khairah’s ability to create extraordinary stories out of ordinary events with a sense of humour.

The writers differ in their writing styles as well as the choice of plots. A few stories in the second half of the book are not interesting, and in certain stories, the relationships or the situations could have seen development. But most of the stories make for a good read. Other stories like The Glass Earrings, The Making of a Married Woman, Letting Go, My Husband’s Best Friend and A Knife’s Fate will go well with readers.

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(Published 20 September 2014, 15:32 IST)

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