Short Fiction
New narratives
PADMINI DEVARAJAN
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A compact collection, Curtains celebrates the Indian woman and `herstories'.
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Curtains, edited by Gayatri Rao, Unisun Publications, 2005, p.252, Rs. 295.
BETWEEN the covers of Curtains, there are 38 occasions to sit up and reflect on life's moments, 38 shades of perception on modern-day lifestyle, from nine insightful, sensitive minds. A compact collection, it celebrates the Indian woman and "herstories", says the discerning editor of the compilation, Gayatri Rao. The profile of the nine Indian women writers is an instance of unity in diversity. Despite their varied backgrounds, the writers give creative expression to the complex emotional states that characterise the basic dilemma of the modern Indian woman. The ultimate effect is the emerging sense of values that resonates from these stories rooted in the delicate areas of modern life.
Harsh truth
The title story, "Curtains", reinforces the harsh truth that women continue to feel a suffocation despite claims of liberation, since the tyranny of conservatism still stalks the supposedly liberated air of modernism. Andaleeb Wajid allows the reader a peek into the middle class Indian Muslim families, where women still grapple with fears, hopes and disappointments. There may be a few women who have become free, but many are still unable to free themselves. But there also lurks an uneasy query about the implications of the term "liberation".
Children's problems are all elders-related, since parents and teachers knowingly or unknowingly tread on sensitive minds, and Sudipta Chatterjee's "Little Problem" surprises and shocks. The subtle love-hate in sibling sisters becomes the scaffolding in "Whose Share?", as Kusum Chopra reassesses the perception of female status in a male dominated world. A dash of psychoanalysis is seen in lonely Mittal's chasing conscience, personified as his own killer in the symbol rich "Crows", and in the mental makeup of the eve teaser ("Loafer"), where the nuisance of the eve teasing tribe takes its toll on both the victim and society.
Unforgettable characters
Aruna Nambiar seems deft at dealing both with the weird and the eerie on the one hand, and the practical and the down to earth on the other. The result is an unforgettable clutch of characters and situations that can be relished. Indira Varma's "The Return" is a dramatic attempt to meld superstition and reason into a psychophysical experience in a temple in Kerala. Irony overflows but without any mess in "The Artist", where the target is the extent of the subjective hold in modern art that makes a mockery of the very high ideals of great art.
Sarita Mandanna's imagination may be going places, but springs from the customs, traditions and family values of the beautiful land of Coorg. Deepa Ravi's expert portrayal of the realities and hardships faced by many Indians who have gone to West Asia in search of livelihood is an eye opener. "Office Boy's Dream" is a poignant tale of Moihdeen who spent his life in Dubai to earn his livelihood. Eagerness to savour domestic bliss with his family is rudely soured with disappointment, when, on his return, he realises that his family can tolerate only a remote relationship.
Mary Mathew's artistic perception is sensitive to the ironic twists in life that make truth stranger than fiction as is seen in the trauma of the HIV-positive couple whose brief life span becomes an anticlimax to the bright future of their dreams when they got married. "Will the Gas Stove Come?" shows a sadistic husband who plans to do away with his wife in the kitchen with the deliberately hatched idea of burning her near the new gas stove.
Authentic portrayal
Readers cannot but enjoy the flashes of the Indian diaspora that come across with authentic clarity. Maya Chandrasekaran captures certain areas of relationships in this context as Maithri's matter-of-fact approach in "Family Calls". Most Indian parents have their sons/daughters studying/working abroad. They have their concerns about the marriage of their children. While the youngsters step into foreign soil with lucrative careers away from their parents, they also search for life partners in all sincerity, or get into brief relationships. Whatever they do, they are able to handle their problems in their own manner, which might not meet the approval of their conservative parents.
Irony, satire, symbol, dialogue, flashback, narrative mode, are handled with economy and grace. While chronicling the strides taken by Indian women in the rapidly changing socio-economic-cultural milieu that has shrunk time and distance, the stories also throw into sharp focus the noble and mean sides of human nature. What is striking is the creative alchemy that transforms authentic personal experiences into imaginative tales. A short story is expected to be short, and also have creative depth. In short, this anthology fulfils these requirements.
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