The Inconceivable Idea of the Sun

 

“I don’t take genre labels seriously. We must not let a division of labor become a division of laborers. This goes for writers as well as readers. Personally, I read the way a goat eats; that is, anything and everything. I hope you do too”, these lines from the author’s bio encouraged me to pick his collection - The Inconceivable Idea of the Sun, my first ‘proper’ attempt at reading spec-fic.

The book has a buoyant start with an offbeat table of contents and introduction. The strength of the collection lies in how the author picks very ‘real’, commonplace scenarios like a mother’s separation anxiety on her child’s first day at school (in ‘Archipelago’), a father’s inability to adjust with his grown-up daughter in her home in a new land (in ‘Into the Night’), a nervous young lady trying to settle down in her boyfriend’s orthodox household (in ‘God’s Own Country’), a man working hard to not feel bitter with his ex-wife’s husband (in ‘Robots of Eden’) and leaps into ‘surrealism’. 

The titular story where too many books in shelves get overwhelming for a bibliophilic couple and ‘The Mind-Body Problem where a young man leads a life of dual identities are other favorites.

Three (of the total 15) entries here felt more like essays than stories. ‘How not to tell Ramayana’ is a clinical analysis of the question - what makes Ramayana so attractive for retelling? ‘Aqua Biographica’ that describes the arduous journey of every writer/storyteller provides a befitting end.

What happens when Lord Shiva is bored of being the 'destroyer' ? A pair of talking parrots atop a silk cotton tree change the tales that an old, chaste Brahmin narrates, he switches from highly austere tales of eight Puranas and Ramayana to the erotica from Sringarasataka and Ujjavala Nilamani, but how? 

Under the cover of lively prose, the author ambushes us readers with some thought-provoking questions - Can over dependence on technology make us ‘digital paraplegics’? Are traditional rites and rituals of any use? Will people acquire ‘textually transmitted diseases’ in future? 

As a novice to the genre, reading these MIND-BENDING stories was no cake-walk, I had to develop the 'lusory attitude' that the author claims is essential for a spec-fic enthusiast. The ‘Contexts’ section in the end helped me understand stories that felt fuzzy initially. With a drizzle of philosophy, a dip into the paranormal and a bite of Hindu epics offered, this is quite an eclectic mix!