Book
Title: The Blue Scarf and
other stories
Author: Anu Singh Choudhary
Translator: Kamayani Sharma
Publisher: HarperCollins
India, 2023
Pages: 188
There is no doubt that the Indian social system is
overtly patriarchal and hence a lot of women endure restrictions of all sorts.
There are exceptions like the matrilineal tribes of the Northeast. The 12 short
stories in this volume by Anu Singh Choudhary focus on some women from the
patriarchal societies of India, particularly North India. Originally written in
Hindi, the stories have been translated quite effortlessly by Kamayani Sharma
though the book does show a few signs of poor proofreading.
The very first story, First
Look, shows us the rising aspirations of a few women from a remote
village and the futility of those aspirations in a world where even marriage is
a business deal. “With this deal, we’re interested only in maximizing profits
for both parties,” The boy’s father says. But the girl’s family can’t ever
touch a deal of the sort that is being offered.
Many dreams crumble. But the women
know how to deal with frustrations. After all, they have dealt with so many
already. They accept this too with the “bittersweet consolation” of some
rationalisations like “This sort of thing happens…”
In the next story, The Last
Puff of the Cigarette, the female protagonist is quite a contrast. She
asserts herself, her liberty, even by going to the extent of smoking cigarettes
and drinking vodka. Her Boy is unable to reconcile himself with that sort of
assertiveness. He’s too ‘good’ for her, the Girl decides.
The third story, The Way Things
Were, shows how a female teacher alters the world of a young female
student. The girl was born 18 years after the marriage of her parents. Their
son had hanged himself because he thought death was easier than dealing with
his dad’s pain on coming to know about his failure in math. The girl child
becomes ever more special to the parents. But she knows that she is a kind of
substitute for her dead brother. The teacher brings about a transformation to
that situation and helps the girl discover her own identity.
Shyamali Sengupta’s 21-year-long
search for her college crush Swati Prakash is the theme of the next story. They
had been the best of friends until one day Shayamali got into Swati’s bed in
the hostel. Swati changed her room in the hostel the same day. Twenty-one years
later they meet again at Tirupati, the temple town. They have realised by now
that love can have many shades.
A poignant contrast is presented in The
Lines of Destiny with its two women: one a very rich one who is unable
to bear a child in spite of all the medical care she gets and the other a very
poor one who can work till the last moment and then go into the labour room and
give birth to yet another healthy child of hers. The story raises the question
about the worth of a woman who can’t bear a child for the family.
The live-in relation of Avi and Naina
in the story titled The Live-in has a theme similar to that of The
Last Puff of the Cigarette: Incompatibility of certain relationships. “How
is marriage possible when in a live-in wasn’t?” is a question that the two young
protagonists who are supposedly in love must answer.
Most stories in this collection
question the very value of life. “From being born to going to school to
attending college to marrying – it’s all without reason,” says the story, Life
the Pain, Life the Cure. Is life an incurable disease whose medicine is
life itself? The protagonist of this story is still finding the answer.
The meaning of life and human
relationships is what binds these 12 stories together. There are many break-ups
here. Some make compromises and go on. A few learn the essential lessons from
their experiences. Anu Singh Choudhary has created some unforgettable
characters in these stories. Anu Singh Choudhary
Sounds like an interesting compilation.
ReplyDeleteIt is.
DeleteSounds like stories of quiet rebellion and backlash. Interesting. What are suppressed find different ways of expression.
ReplyDeleteYour comment reassues me that my review is quite right. 😊
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