Battlefield

 

This book reminded me of George Orwell’s Notes on Nationalism. Orwell’s strands of thoughts on colonialism, nationalism and anti-semitism are woven into this slim work of fiction - Battlefield by Vishram Bedekar, originally published as Ranaangan in the year 1939, translated from Marathi by Jerry Pinto.

“If we’re thinking of Nationalism as revenge, if this becomes rooted in our history as a way of thinking, what becomes of man’s evolution? I shudder to think”.

“Perhaps the boundaries of narrow patriotism need to be broken all over the world.”

“The Nazi philosophy seemed to see the nation as an avenging angel, flaming sword in hand, righting wrongs that might be real or imagined”.

"My mother was born in Poland. I was born in Berlin. My children, should I have any, will be born in Shanghai. When your grandmother is Polish and your mother is German, and you are Chinese for whom will you fight?"

Europe is on the brink of WWII. Chakradhar Vidhwans feels it is wise to leave London and return home to Mumbai, India. On the ship back home, he meets Herta, a Jewish young woman forced to flee her home in Germany and seek exile in Shanghai. Many like Herta, heavily persecuted by Germany, are also headed to Shanghai, unsure of their future.

Chakradhar, who’s nursing a heartbreak, vows to make merry on the ship for two weeks before disembarking at Mumbai. Herta who has lost her job, home, love of her life, everything for being a Jew, is intent on clinging onto the smallest sliver of hope. She cares a hoot for the morals of the world that has shut her out. A heady mix of romance & desire brews between the two leading to a passionate, short-lived, plangent with melancholy affair.

“When you need a drink, you go and get one and you are rejuvenated. Which hotel you drink in does not matter.” - Chakradhar’s thoughts on desire for women’s company (there are more such lines) may feel misogynistic and irksome. But I pushed his notions and the romance between him and Herta to the background for Herta wouldn’t have been on the ship and would’ve led a quotidian life in Germany if the Nazis didn’t drive her out. The circumstances that brought them together were more important than their state of togetherness itself, for me. The little titbits of history on 'comfort women' from England ushered to service the French soldiers and a very rich arms dealer called Basil Zaharaoff (1848-1936), Shanghai being the home for Jews who fled Germany before WWII grabbed my attention more than the melodramatic love story itself. 

The ship, a tunnel of light and dark, is a microcosm of the world we lived/live in where human beings estrange and exploit those different from themselves (based on race, color, gender and religion) with an inexplicable madness. And for highlighting this, Battlefield, a classic stays extremely relevant.

Alka and other Stories

 

Goutam Das’s Alka and other stories packs fifteen short stories, translated from Bengali by Ratna Jha.

Most stories here are set within the family fold and delve deeply into relationships between family members. There are stories (‘Awake’, ‘Duty-Bound’, ‘Courtesy of Rain’, ‘A Change of Mind’) where the family is a tightly knit unit, its members earnestly care for each other. And there are stories (‘A Tale from Anandganj’, ‘Alka’, ‘The Servant’, ‘Second Birth’) where complete strangers shower love and care just like one’s own kith and kin.

While most stories brim with positivity and have neat closures on a hopeful note, two stories, quite like a kink in the graph - ‘Cuckoos’ and ‘The Cremation Ground’ are immensely moving and sad, these are my favorites too. 

The story ‘Wish’ about a bank employee who opts for voluntary retirement to dedicate more time to his interests - reading & writing despite everyone around dissuading him from doing so closely mirrors the author’s life.

The characters in these stories are mostly uncomplicated beings, quick to forgiving human error. Though these stories are mostly restricted to the domestic sphere, the author adds titbits of Bengali socio-cultural scape, the widely prevalent economic divide and political rivalry in hinterland claiming innocent lives in the background. 

There’s abundant love for Rabindra Sangeet as the first verse written by Tagore (‘Jol Poday Pata noday’ which translates to ‘water falls and the leaves move’) & many others poems (Tumi Sandhyar Meghamala, Amar Praner Poray Cholay) feature regularly. There is even a mention of the famed love story between Chandidas and Rami. 

Grandparents here enjoy telling stories from Thakurmar Jhuli to their grandchildren. The author also acquaints us with the tradition of Baul (folk) songs too in his story ‘Human Gems’. Sounds of the seaside, boatman’s oars cracking up the river, Chandi paath during Durga Puja and Baul songs from Jaidev mela adorn the story ‘The Poetry of Sound’. The mention of rain, dark clouds, fragrant swarna champa flowers, magpie robins, food like khichudi, hilsa fry, luchis, nolen gur sandesh are a feast to the senses. The translation by Ratna Jha offers a comfortable reading experience. 

In the story 'The Servant', a loyal servant unlocks his master's mind to some essential questions on life; likewise the simple stories here collectively move 'something' in us, help us slow down and appreciate the little beautiful things around us. 

Perfect for weekend or ‘de-stress’ reading, in genteel and compassionate storytelling, this book’s a nice bunch of stories. 

A History of Objects

 

A History of Objects by Carlo Pizzati is a collection of 23 short stories (more precisely 22, the first story ‘The Hard Drive’ is a prelude to the book) with each story named after a certain object. From the mundane sweater, a pair of shoes or slippers, a bench, an umbrella to the currently obsolete VHS tape, the recently ubiquitous mask and hand sanitizer, there are many objects that find a place here. In some stories, these objects are clearly the focal point, in some these are catalysts that precipitate life-changing events and in others they only make a guest appearance.

Apart from taking us places - Italy, Germany, the USA, India & Philippines in his stories, the author gives us an array of diverse characters and a gamut of emotions to explore. His writing is lucid, carefree & marked with ‘dry’ humor and ‘out of the box’ imagination. One cannot predict when the object in the title will appear in the story or how it will alter its course. For instance, everything in the stories ‘The Teddy Bear’, ‘The Candy Box’ is far from ‘mushy cute’ or innocent, there’s nothing scandalous in ‘The VHS tape’ and nothing related to rain/greenery in ‘The Umbrella’. These stories, mostly open-ended, are differently structured too - story within a story as in ‘The Coconut Scraper’, starting from the end and moving backwards in ‘The Slippers’, a series of interconnected vignettes in ‘The Teddy Bear’. 

It is no secret that objects are reserves of stories & memories, they have a life of their own. But not all objects are embodiments of nostalgia - with cached ‘sweet’ memories waiting to tumble out, the author points out. Here a wind-up cockroach toy and a mantlepiece fish destroy relationships, a portrait warns a man of his future, a man changing his baby’s diapers vows to turn vegetarian. Characters in these stories largely suffer from self-doubt, depression, failed relationships and heartbreak. There is an undercurrent of violence and dysfunctionality. A young man who announces he's gay to his family and is looking for acceptance, a woman who cannot open herself to the love of mortals on Earth openly embracing the skies, men and women authors debating about the idea of equality as preached by feminism - their stories lie curled up within the objects that appear in these stories. 

Reality in fiction gets an expression as the author incorporates Monica Ghurde murder case & MV Greenpeace voyage in his stories and even lends an autobiographical ‘feel’ to some parts.

A quirky potpourri of stories (better savored slowly) where objects are as potent as characters in flesh and blood.