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| Feb 7, 2000 | ||
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| Twists
and Tales The annual collection of regional short stories seems to fall a little short of usual standards By Ashok Koshy KATHA VOL9
The magical million dollar-winning number on a Dubai-based sweepstake, clutched possessively in the sweaty palm of an exultant expatriate Indian perhaps? Alas, no. The numbers herald the "ninth volume of 19 prize stories in Katha's 99th book, offered at the end of 1999". With a record of publishing literature worthy of that accolade, one is left more than a little perplexed at the current offering. Perchance, 1998-99 fell short of excellence in the regional languages short story category, or the nominating editors did not rummage long and hard enough to track down the best of the best. "Panchali" has Krishnaa (read Draupadi), entering the cigarette-smoke-filled bridal bedchamber to spend the ensuing five nights used and abused by five (Pandavas) manifestations of her husband's lust. Yudhistiran derives "quick satisfaction"; Bhiman leaves her breasts bruised and her waist crushed; Arjuna handles her amorously like a veena on his lap; the self-centred Nakulam copulates indifferently and the shy Sahadevan requires "fingers to travel" before he is aroused. In the end, Krishnaa's vindication of her ignominy remains just smoke, mingling easily with the foul odour of her bedchamber. In "The Boat", boatmaker Narayanan awakens hesitantly to the charms of fisherwoman Gangayi. Driven by divisive caste barriers, the lovers escape in the new boat into the night, leaving the reader indifferent to their fate. A literary nugget often suffers in translation. It does not therefore justify the rather weak narrative of the sole English tale in the collection, "Summer on the Island". Torn between her love of Christ and the strong arms of a man, Sister Maria's final night at the convent and the trauma of the little orphan she leaves behind evoke little empathy. A short story is akin to a wedge of cheesecake -- rich, traditional, creamy and multilayered. It is best savoured to the exclusion of all else, its flavours coursing through the senses like heady wine. Katha's offering to herald the millennium is grainy, inconsistent and flat to the palette -- a trifle disappointing. Tax is Theft Delightful assault on Nehruvian economics that even seeks to legalise prostitution By Sumit Mitra ANTIDOTE A book on the Indian economy is certainly not a proposition that would have publishers drooling. Books in this category are generally so heavy on tables and graphs -- and light on refreshing ideas -- that no reader, other than a research student, on seeing one would like to reach for his wallet. Economics may be the "dismal science", but those who write on it in India have a special talent to make it melancholy reading. There is a whiff of fresh air though. Surprisingly, it is originating from economists who earn their keep not from the government but by working in the financial press -- which is arguably a free market of good ideas and communication skills. If Ashok Desai began the trend with his racily written The Price of Onions, Sauvik Chakraverti, yet another "pink paper" editor, has presented a delightfully original condemnation of centralised planning, state-controlled education, development economics, monetary control, family planning, rural development -- virtually everything that Nehruvian socialism stands for. Chakraverti is not the tight-lipped sort averse to ranting, but the charm of his rant is in the clever use of imbibed wisdom to make his own point. In a chapter on money, which runs down the central bank's inflation-control measures, he goes over the history of coinage to draw a parallel between oppressive monarchs debasing their currencies and a modern state, like India, printing notes to finance deficit. His advocacy of a minimalist state -- which does nothing much except build good roads and ensure peace in civic life -- is both quirky and enjoyable reading. So are the many causes that he expounds -- close down the IMF, allow private banks to issue redeemable currencies, legalise cannabis, tax liquor but make beer and wine cheaper, make prostitution legitimate, gradually do away with the Indo-Pakistani border and so on. Chakraverti, who studied government in the London School of Economics, is deeply influenced it appears by the libertarian ideas of Austrian economist Friedrich August von Hayek, whose socio-economic prescriptions were brilliant yet too far ahead of their time. Chakraverti's are even more so. The reader may not be convinced by these, but he'll undoubtedly be impressed. Gaze of the Inner Eye Grey shadows of a tortured soul-and more resplendent colours of an idyllic setting By Alka Nigam THE BETTER MAN At the fin de siecle, Anita Nair's imposing debut novel leads our agitated souls back to the primitive wisdom enshrined in love, the essence of one's being. The Better Man is the journey of a soul, the story of a retired government officer -- Mukundan Nair, who returns to his Kerala village. But this means coming face to face with his dead past, millions of grey shadows and ghosts of his dead mother and ancestors haunting and tormenting him. Enter Bhasi and Anjana who rescue him from "the morass of the past". Mukundan decides to spend the rest of his life cocooned in that magical happiness. But when his greatest desire to take his father's place in Kaikurissi is threatened, he betrays them. Is he a mere extension of his father's image? Selfish? His father at least had the courage of his convictions. The realisation dawns upon Mukundan -- he is a timid creature who had hidden his inadequacies as an excuse under the domineering personality of his father. In the process of Mukundan's redemption there emerge a host of characters. Some, with strikingly sharp features, refuse to exit long after the novel ends -- the tyrant Achuthan Nair, devious Philipose and eternally ungratified Valsala. Their story exposes a basic human predicament -- each one of us has one wounded corner in our personality. Rich in local colour, the undercurrents that run beneath the seemingly idyllic surroundings of the sleepy village are explored in fluid prose. Anita Nair has proved her mettle by fathoming the deepest recesses of man's psyche and pulling it out neatly on the surface. She will go a long way. |
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