Rising from the shadows

Dolls’ Wedding and other stories (Penguin, Rs 299) by Chaso contains some of the author’s best short stories. Chaso, or Chaganti Somayajulu, is one of the finest short-story writers in modern Telugu. He is one of those rare Indian authors who use realism with aplomb and create magic. But to create a magical story, Chaso never uses the device of sentimentality. He hits hard with his pragmatism and blends many shades into a single canvas to paint a multi-layered picture. Apart from “Dolls’ Wedding”, “Got to go to Eluru”, “Dream Love” and “Firewood” are the most engaging stories. Velcheru Narayana Rao and David Shulman deserve to be congratulated for translating Chaso into English. It means he will now reach a wider audience and his significance will be more broadly acknowledged.

Grandma’s bag of stories (Puffin, Rs 199) by Sudha Murty may remind one of the old collection of fairy tales in Bengali with the same name, but this one is very different in content. It is a collection of children’s stories which are not fairy tales. They are set in the present day, and are humble and realistic, with a useful moral at the end. It is a relief to find that the lessons these stories offer are not based on rigid ethical notions. They are wrought out of everyday situations and try to imbue simple good sense. Murty’s language is supple and understated. Directness is her forté, and she uses it well. Children may like the book also because of the beautiful illustrations by Priya Kuriyan that peep out of every other page. Children’s fiction is an area which needs the attention of good authors. So efforts such as this one are encouraging.

Not like most young girls (Jaico, Rs 250) is a collection of short stories about the lives of sex workers, compiled by Aastha Parivaar, which comprises 14 community-based organizations that are formed “by, of and for sex workers across Mumbai and Thane”. The contributors are “young minds from eminent educational institutions from Mumbai”. Such a project always runs the risk of catering to stereotypes. And this one has fallen into the trap. The fresh minds have reacted to the “world of shadows and sleaze” with a lot of emotion — and some romanticized notions. They have put into their accounts typical images and ideas of flesh trade. Their perspectives are not critical. The idea of the project may have been promising but the final product is disappointing.