In recent times, we have witnessed a rise in literary works that delve into the unseen and the invisible. These stories often focus on the lives of marginalized communities, the struggles they face, and the unexplored aspects of their experiences. In this edition of The Hindu on Books Newsletter, we will explore some of these stories that shed light on the invisible.
A woman’s voice from Hassan
At a discussion in Bengaluru about her International Booker Prize-shortlisted book of stories, Heart Lamp (And Other Stories/Penguin), Banu Mushtaq said she is a product of several literary and social movements in Karnataka in the 1980s. The stories translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi have a certain universality to them, even though they are set in a particular context – her home town is Hassan — and community. “It is interesting how all of us who identify as women face the same kind of pressures from patriarchal diktats or religion,” she pointed out. “These are issues that women face all over the world because patriarchy is not restricted to Muslim, Indian or South Asian communities.”
In Kannada literature, Muslim characters were usually depicted in black and white. “Either they were very beautiful, good people, or villainous characters,” said the spry 77-year-old. “There was no grey area.” Gradually, after talks at literary workshops, she was told to “write about your people… yourself… your surroundings… your feasts… your joys and sorrows and challenges.” This is how Mushtaq started writing, over five decades ago, writes Preeti Zachariah.
Breaking the mould in fiction
Keshava Guha’s new novel, The Tiger’s Share (Hachette), revolves around the lives of two families in Delhi, an inheritance wrangle between successful sisters and entitled brothers, environment degradation and social realism. Asked what inspired him to write this story, Guha tells Stanley Carvalho, “The book started with the ending in terms of the idea. I just had this idea of an individual taking a drastic step because he was so appalled by what humans had done to the environment. Then I tried playing around with that and everything else took shape around that idea. It is a bit of a mystery where ideas come from for fiction. I don’t sit down and plot it in a thorough way or anything like that.”
Guha says the people in the novel are entirely made up, but that things like the patriarchal aspect of the inheritance disputes, “that is very much provoked, not by my own family but by families that I saw in Delhi over and over again.” His view of Delhi? “Delhi is a city that is all about exclusion.”
Uncovering human suffering
Zahid Rafiq’s book of short stories, The World with its Mouth Open (Penguin), recounts the lives of Kashmiri people with a lens on the everyday. The collection has 11 tales about love, despair and deception. Rafiq uncovers the human suffering away from the usual theme of conflict by probing the inner lives of war-torn people, says the reviewer Bilal Gani. Two desperate shopkeepers, a couple who must dispose of a skeleton unearthed while workers are building their fancy new home, a young man who has lost his job – these are relatable characters, says Gani, as they are deprived of power or do not have the strength to act against forces much larger than themselves. “From the heart of Kashmir, Rafiq’s brutally honest tale is a piercing exploration of grief, loss and betrayal.”
Unmasking the truth
Rollo Romig’s book, I Am on the Hit List (Context), follows journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh’s life and death in South India. Talking to K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj, he said the story of Gauri Lankesh touched on what interests him about South India, its literary scene, language cultures, character of its cities and legacy of communal harmony — Gauri’s signature cause as an activist. “I really felt Gauri’s story illustrated for me so much of what I love about South India and what is presently under threat.”
Spotlight: Standing Heavy
Standing Heavy is the debut novel of Ivorian writer Gauz’. A sharp, scathing satire of France’s colonial legacy and race politics, it is also about the interrelatedness of colonialism and capitalism. In an interview with Preeti Zachariah on the sidelines of the Kerala Literature Festival, Gauz’ said: “We are always being colonised by something or some people. They call it soft power, but in the expressions of power, there is power. Soft doesn’t count; what counts is power.”
Told from the perspective of undocumented African security guards working in a Parisian shopping mall, it’s about people who are “doubly invisible.” Gauz’ says someone told him that he was the “writer of the invisible, and I am OK with that. Is it not crazy to ignore a human being in a place you enter?” The book’s title refers to both the security guard job that demands people to stand for their supper, as well as to the extent of France’s colonial legacy.
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In this digital age, stories that capture the unseen and the invisible have gained significant attention. These stories often delve into the lives of marginalized communities, shedding light on their struggles and unexplored experiences.
More on the Stories
* To learn more about Banu Mushtaq’s book, Heart Lamp (And Other Stories), click here. * For more information on Keshava Guha’s novel, The Tiger’s Share, visit this link. * To read more about Zahid Rafiq’s book of short stories, The World with its Mouth Open, click here. * To learn more about Rollo Romig’s book, I Am on the Hit List, visit this link. * For more information on Gauz’’s debut novel, Standing Heavy, click here.
