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theStack SMALLER-THAN-LIFE

PEOPLE AND THEIR TALES
A CHEQUERED BRILLIANCE — THE MANY LIVES OF The new book Blue Is Like Blue is renowned Hindi
VK KRISHNA MENON writer Vinod Kumar Shukla’s only collection of short
By Jairam Ramesh; Penguin-Viking; 725pp; 999 fiction available in English translation for the first time
It’s very easy to judge VK Krishna with his long record of pluses and VINOD KUMAR SHUKLA, one of the finest living writ-
minuses; on what he accomplished he commands ers in Hindi and one of the few truly original imagina-
plaudits, on what he blotched up, he deserves stric- tions in world literature, has been quietly forging his
tures, writes former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh in own idiosyncratic path away from the public gaze in
his meticulously researched biography of the former Raipur, Chhattisgarh. That is all set to change with
Defence Minister, who emerges as a larger than life Blue Is Like Blue, the first-ever translation into English
figure in spite of his greatest setback, the Chinese of his short stories that deal with “smaller-than-life”
invasion of 1962. “Krishna Menon’s achievements were people who live in India’s small-towns — their lives
gigantic, his failures monumental. His intellectual and experiences, their small joys and sorrows.
strengths were awesome, his emotional equilibrium They live in rented accommodation, often in single
pathetic. He was the delight of his crisis, the despair rooms, where one electric bulb does for light. When
of his admirers. He reached dizzying heights of fame, plumbed to the light dims because of low voltage, it is like air
depths of notoriety. It is very easy to judge Krishna Menon. He has escaping from a punctured bicycle tube. There’s a
a long record of pluses and minuses. On what he accomplished, he nail to hang clothes from and a wall-to-wall string for
commands plaudits. On what he blotched up, he deserves stric- the washing. When the clothes are dry, you place the
tures,” writes Ramesh, a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha. carefully folded shirt under
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- a pillow and lie down to sleep.
Money is a concern, but
THE GIRL WHO COULDN’T LOVE the bazaar is the place to go
By Shinie Antony; Speaking Tiger; 167pp; 299; and spend time in, especially
if you have nothing to buy.
An introverted, middle-aged spinster, Roo, or Rudrak- The fear that you may be
shi Sen, lives with her mother and teaches English at over-charged accompanies
a local school. Roo’s mother, semi-blind and a chronic every transaction, but joy
invalid, lives most of the time in an imaginary world is not entirely absent. The
where she turns the grief of her husband’s death and book also includes Shukla’s
their bizarre relationship into the belief that theirs memoir, Old Veranda, with its
was a happy, conventional marriage. Roo cultivates unforgettable scene in which
an aloof manner and distances herself from close a bus bound for Rajnandgaon,
relationships to stave off memories of her childhood the city of his birth, is travel-
and of Eeedee, the girl who entered her life as a six-year-old and ling “through the air at great
left as a teenager-after one night that was to haunt and shape both speed”. Raise a cheer for the fresh perspective such a
their adult lives. When Kumar, a man much younger than her, enters work provides.
Roo’s life out of nowhere, she is intensely attracted to him — an Blue Is Like Blue, according to a reviewer, is a cata-
attraction she believes is reciprocal. She begins an affair with this logue of consciousness, which traces the associative
mysterious stranger, knowing that all affairs end messily. It is her nature of our thoughts and lives. Vinod Kumar Shukla
secrets she wants to shield. Grab a copy of the book to read more. manages to slow down the spate of the river Lethe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- and to delay oblivion ever so briefly. And we remem-
ber, we remember all that we’ve seen and known and
THE KAAFIR’S LOVE have always referred to as, ‘I can’t quite put my finger
By Abhisar Sharma; Rupa; Pages: 257; 295; on it.’
The author of Blue is Like Blue had won the Atta
Two dramatic incidents shake up the tenuous peace in an Old Delhi Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize 2019
neighbourhood: A terrorist commits suicide in the Jama Masjid area for Best Fiction for his book’s translation from the
and an influential trader is shot near the same spot. Hindi. The book won from among over 80 entries
As simmer comes to boil, age-old antagonisms sur- by publishers and the winner receives the Thought
face and sharp lines are drawn. Amidst these troubled Beyond Words trophy.
times, Sameer, a Hindu boy, falls in love with a Muslim Vinod Kumar Shukla is a poet and novelist from
girl, Inara. Unaware of the consequences of his love Raipur, Chhattisgarh. In 1999, Shukla received the
that is considered forbidden, Sameer is dragged down Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Deewar Mein Ek
the rabbit hole of intolerance and as he sinks, he Khidki Rehti Thi.
discovers a shocking truth — a truth that shall change Arvind Krishna Mehrotra is the translator of The
many lives forever. Restless and on the edge, “The Absent Traveller and Songs of Kabir. Sara Rai has
Kaafir’s Love” is volatile and an intense love story set translated The Golden Waist-Chain and Munshi Prem-
against our troubled and provocative times. chand’s Kazaki and Other Marvellous Tales.

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