A man cajoles, coaxes and even threatens his family deity into giving him an auspicious, go-ahead signal before embarking on an important assignment. You need to read the titular story (also the first one) to know what this important assignment is.
The translator's prowess comes out clean in 'Bus to Aaladi' that depicts ruckus in a mofussil bus - reeking of sweat, booze and tobacco smell, women quarreling over seat, men casually rubbing their bodies against women feigning innocence and blaming the rush and a conductor chanting 'Ticket, ticket', ignorant of the hell that the packed bus is.
Imayam writes with a stunning sensitivity on women's issues in stories Payback Time, Sharada, Yearning, Bus to Aaladi. That there is no place for the aged in the society, that irrational faith in God is of no use, that growth and development is squashing up the backbone of the nation - agriculture are other subjects dealt with in these stories.
That two stories here revolve around politics isn't surprising as Imayam says, 'If you reject politics, you distance yourself from society'. He is a registered member of the DMK party but doesn't hold any party position. Cash for votes, money over merit to get a ticket to contest in elections, the vital role caste plays in politics are examined deftly in 'One of Ours' and 'A Man of the Party'.
Grounded in reality, mostly set in and around Vriddhachalam, Tamil Nadu, Imayam's stories are neither polemic nor preachy in tone. A minor quibble is that the short story could have remained 'short', repetition as a tool to emphasize one's observations makes some of these stories overly dramatic and lengthy.
I remember reading the line 'to put yourself in someone else's shoes, you need to remove yours first' at a metro station here, and Imayam's stories in this collection ensure we do the first step, observe without judging, be kind, sincere and empathetic.
A true to life collection !!
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