The Poison of Love - Book Review

(I could not really find a suitable name to this blog post - a book review of The Poison of Love by KR Meera, translated by Ministhy.S., too many thoughts this novella has left behind)

One of the most important primal feelings - love, has often been associated with everything beautiful, poetic and magical. However, can passionate love be all consuming, highly corrosive that it dissolves one's identity? Can it be streaked with vengeance that waiting for an act of retribution alone sustains life? Yes, possible proves KR Meera as she handles this all deftly in her book - The Poison Of Love (translated), originally written in Malayalam and titled Meera Sadhu.

The Poison of Love is a story of Tulsi and Madhav, Tulsi's downfall from being loved every second to begging for a second of love and attention, a whirlwind change that pushes her to becoming a Meera sadhu in Vrindavan and surrender to the Lord. 

Madhav's love for Tulsi; or more precisely, Tulsi's love for this only man in her life stifles her, makes her numb, the realization that she has deserted too many things all along to earn just emptiness in the name of love strikes her too very late. 

The author leaves a deep chasm when she delves into how even after this realization, Tulsi does not reveal her pitiable condition to the world just to guard her self esteem. Her deep pitted eyes well up with tears but every time a cloak of false pride dries them up till a final straw is drawn. In her years at Vrindavan, does she wait for Madhav, his love, what will be the atonement?

I found a shade of similarity between Madhav and Mahendra from Rabindranath Tagore's Choker Bali and even little of Binodhini (from Choker Bali) in Tulsi. 

I am completely bowled over by how KR Meera has delivered such a powerful story in just 100 pages, every sentence deals with an action or an emotion, really astounded at her firm grip on words. My accolades to the author apply equally to the translator who with same fervor and energy as the author has opened the story to a wider audience, these efforts are easily perceived by the reader.  

The Poison of Love deals with the dark aspects of how love (or any emotion for that matter) in excess can make life hellish. And this is where the big, decisive question arises, what really defines an excess, how or when does one know what is an excess?

This is a dark, thought provoking tale, gets really caustic at times, but as some one has said - to find the brightest wisdom , one must pass through the darkest zones. So, do read this book, definitely profound and different. 

A Big Slice of Odisha

Dasuram's Script -- Book Review 

A collection of sixteen short stories, edited/compiled and translated by Mona Lisa Jena that provides a big slice of Odisha.

Contemporary writing that shifts spatially from urban centers to rural lands, farms, dense jungles in the hinterland and culturally maps in time from 70 s - times of all powerful landlords, landless laborers,  religious and 

socio-economic discrimination, gross disparities, black magic and superstitions to post 90 s where corruption trickles further into interpersonal relations, running clearly in threads even within a family.

Apart from hardships faced by the commoner, love, betrayal and such run-of-the-mill emotions, there are many interesting revelations from stories in this kitty.Unemployment, child abuse, domestic violence, superstitions, local folklore, confining traditions dealt with in these stories paint a picture of the not so perfect life.

The scape shifts from developed Cuttack on one end of the spectrum, it's well lit lanes and Khatjodi river to remote Guduripanka village where Kui tribes strive for an identity and fight against an authoritarian state. There are ponds brimming with fish, Sal trees, mahua overflowing that make a perfect backdrop in stories.

All are good stories - Dasuram's script, This short story should not be remembered, The genius, The shy bride bearing more impact than the rest. A note on the contributors and a short story on writing/ literature in Odia at the end of the book is worth paying attention to.

The cover on the back says - this book is a startling introduction to parallel realities that exist not so far from the self absorbed existence of India's big cities ... and this is very true.

Dasuram's script as a book is like a good flower bouquet, there are some flowers that are bright, some that leave a waft of fragrance in the air and some mere fillers for the sake of adding up volume. Do pick this bouquet, for it does have a charm.

An Entry in my Travel Diary

Its been really really long since I wrote a blog post under the label 'Travel".

The last travelogue entry was of my trip to Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and Trivandrum along with my husband in Nov 2011, before my kid was born. Not that we haven't traveled there after, we certainly have to places where we had relatives to visit, where a functioning house welcomed us and made us (especially my little one) feel at ease. After all, a home is where hearth is and heart is. 

Swerving a little away from that trend, we undertook a three day long vacation to Goa in the second week of Oct 2018, with mixed feelings - with the joy of visiting a destination that me and my husband love immensely from the time we visited it for the first time, back in 2007; with little skepticism on how we were going to fare with our kid in a place where we had no relatives or acquaintances, rather had no "home" like set up. 

I chose Santa Terra Apartments on Verem-Nerul Road for our stay after browsing through tags like homestay and service apartments on Instagram - hash tags really help, you know. (Smiles)

Located very close to Reis Magos Fort, not very far from Panjim, close to Aguada fort and Candolim beach, Santa Terra apartment offers a beautiful and convenient stay amidst lush greenery, a home away from home, literally. 

The laudable aspect for me was the presence of a fully equipped kitchen in the apartment , an induction cook top, a microwave oven (I didn't have to use it), a 4 burner gas stove, an electric kettle and Aqua Guard installed in place for clean drinking water. 

Traveling with a kid with very specific tastes and clear preference for home food, cooking his meals were of utmost importance to me and this was made easy at Santa Terra, utensils and cutlery required were in place; groceries could be procured from a shop right opposite the property. 

The apartment was spacious, with cleanliness clear winning the attention. Relaxing in the balcony or taking a walk inside the property observing plants, trees and beautiful flowers in the garden served as a great refreshing option. 

The owners of the property Sunaina and Sachin are quick to respond to queries and solve outstanding issues, if any. The housekeeping team ensure comfort in the hours they are available at the property. 

WiFi connectivity , Inverter/power back up, an indoor pool are other promising features. Contact information for bike/car rentals and airport pick up can be easily obtained. 

It will do good if one can pack a few utensils along and carry small packets of spices; other commonly used ingredients required to make a meal, little planning helps in avoiding a visit to the grocery store as the first thing you do upon landing at the venue.

 
Our stay was a comfortable and pleasant one, hassle free given the many doubts I harbored before it began. 
If one is traveling with a kid or better put prefers to cook and eat, one should have no doubts in booking this property. 

Here are a few pictures of Santa Terra Apartments that I managed to click on my mobile phone - 

Indoor swimming pool 

Santa Terra Apartments - a view from the garden 

Disclaimer: As is the norm of any review post - just a mention that I neither partner with the owners of the property nor stand to gain from any of its promotions, my three day stay here with my family was definitely a pleasant one, one that I will remember fondly. Just that good words should be shared without much deferring as it might help others like me make a decision. 

Not Just a Story of a Black Goat

No matter how much you give to this heart, it will never be enough.

Poonachi or the story of a black goat - written by Perumal Murugan and translated by N.Kalyan Raman describes life;  birth and death, and many events that happens in between - many events, very few over which one has control; and all others beyond ones' control, some even beyond comprehension.  

In a village almost devoid of rainfall, an old couple with a minimal subsistence witness an inexplicable change with the arrival of a very ordinary life - a day old goat kid, that looks like a mini dung ball. 

How this miniscule fragment of life acquires a name, how she escapes the clutches of an eagle, a wild cat, from the jaws of death literally in early months of her life form the initial part of the story.  

Poonachi not only fills the void left by the the old couples' daughter' departure post marriage but slowly evolves into a God-sent miracle. The old couple revere her, villagers flock around to get a glimpse of her. The old woman loves Poonachi much more than her own daughter, the old man has mixed feelings right from the start. 

Poonachi, however, realises with time that the love of the old couple towards her is just as long as the rope that is used to tether her to a peg, only scant and measured. 

Poonachi is not just a story of a goat or her growing up years, but a complete narrative of human beings, their feelings, their behavior in different circumstances, a strong observation of the dark times which we live in, where there is a constant strife between ethically right and wrong, where preserving an essence of humanity is seemingly impossible. 

A short, powerful tale, translated extremely well (I could sense the equivalent Tamil lines running in my head as I read the text) that offers a bird's (rather goat's) eye view of a small world in which man and animals strive to thrive together. 

All about Emotions and Errors

Book Review - 

Most book lovers need no introduction to the author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, for her book - The Palace of Illusions has received rapturous applause from all quarters, readers world over. That is precisely what made me pick this book - the Unknown Errors of our Lives (stories, a set of nine of them),  my first from the author's desk.

The lure of short stories coupled with an erratic reading schedule I had foreseen for this month made me prefer this book to a complete novel.

The prose beautifully lyrical, eloquent and mostly poignant is a clear strength of this book.  Chitra evokes an emotion she wants in her reader in a manner as easy as eating a pie.

The book opens with Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter, this reminded me a little of Jhumpa Lahiri; people torn between their mother land and the place they have immigrated to, changes that some fall in line with, some just cannot manage and won't. Even the  concluding piece in the book - the Names of Stars in Bengali is centered around the change in scape, in lands/homes where one lives and in relationships therefore & thereafter.

The second story - the Intelligence of Wild Things strikes a harmonic resonance, but the sheen disappears thereafter, re appearing only vaguely in the 7th story in the collection - the Blooming Season for Cacti, even the titular story is not powerful as usually expected.

The Lives of Strangers is open ended, does allow a lot of thought to flow but the plot hangs loosely with no ends to safeguard it securely, this happens in few other stories too which creates a lull. 

The most disappointing aspect for me is the way the author treats a short story. Taking cues from the preface of an earlier read/an anthology - a Clutch of Indian Masterpieces, the editor in there quotes a definition of a short story as one with a fully developed theme, significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel. The THEME or an undercurrent is starkly amiss in three of nine stories in this package.

Going by the same preface, it is believed that there are many authors who like Chekhov treat a story just as a 'slice of life' , construct them on events and turning points in life; but even on that ground and being highly lenient in forming an opinion,  6 out of 9 stories in the collection failed to impress me.

'Go with the tide' is my advice, may be pick 'The Palace of Illusions' or even Before we Visit the Goddess as a first, for having picked this book turned out to be a minor (not Unknown) Error in my life.