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Book Review
TELUGU
Fiction anthology
SAROJINI PREMCHAND
KADHAAVAAHINI-2007 — Anthology of Short Stories: Rachana Sai — Compiler; Vahini Book Trust, 1-9-286/3, Vidyanagar, Hyderabad-500044. Rs.130.
THIS BOOK, a collection of 26 short stories, presents diverse life situations. The petty rivalries that prevail in an office, the one-upmanship games played by married couples, a girl in her teens taken for a ride by a boyfriend who starts blackmailing her later, a librarian, Katyayani, impressed after chatting with a serious reader changing her views about marriage, and a person distressed by the plight of destitute children on a railway platform trying to find solace in Karma theory are all interesting backdrops. But what is sadly lacking is the art and craft of storytelling.
In “Adavipoolu”, “Ucchu”, “Nimajjanam”, “Dongalu”, “Cricket score”, “Siksha”, “Kalmasham” and also in many others projection of the unjust world is too morose without a single streak of hope or relief.
The only one that brings a little cheer is the story about the naivety of a housewife trying to reform a flower and vegetable seller having a baby every year.
The subtle portrayal of relationships between emotionally scarred individuals is seen in “Needa”, “Emainthante” and “Sneham”. A tussle between father and son to correct the other, one a habitual smoker and the other a new entrant to drinking is handled quite sensibly in “Alavaatu”.
The stories are chosen as they are the best among those published during 2006 says the editor in the preface. If it is so there is an urgent need for some rejuvenation on this front.
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