Book Review – Indian Love Stories, Sudhir Kakar

What does the word ‘love’ bring to your mind? A red colored heart, lovers with clasped hands, gleeful smiles of youthful faces and flowers in bunches? If so, you must read this book. Not because it will augment your idea about love, but because it will make you see how large and different an emotion love is, different from what we have been taught about love repeatedly, in mundane, movie-type depictions.

‘Indian Love Stories’ is an anthology, a collection of 10 short stories, by contemporary Indian authors and compiled by Sudhir Kakar. Each of these 10 stories brings out the 10 different hues of love – some blue, some green, and some, grey. But each hue by itself will definitely paint a vivid picture for your mind’s eyes. A compilation of works by some of the eminent names in Indian literature scenario, like Amrita Pritam and Kamala Das, these stories are sure to tickle some nerves, lacerate some hearts and unleash some repressed emotions.

With no intention of spoiling the show for the willing readers, and with the intention of giving a glimpse into the vast array of emotions and relationships that go by the name of love, here I’d like to offer a line or two about each of these stories.
 

1.    The Empty Chest, Indira Goswami – Deals about the unfulfilled love between a poor woman, who is left to fend for herself in the absence of her errant husband, and her previous, upper-caste employer. What will be her emotions like, if she gets to know about his death, a decade after their separation?
 

2.    The House Combustible, Subodh Ghosh – Translated from Bengali, this story tells about a chance encounter between an estranged couple. A divorced couple get to meet by destiny at a railway station, on a lonely night. What will be the flow of emotions like? Especially when they are both married to some other persons and are headed in different directions now?
 

3.    Stains, Manjula Padmanabhan – Set in a foreign background, this story depicts the relationship between a rich NRI and his African-American girlfriend. The clash of cultures and the conservative mindset of the NRI’s mother form the theme of this story. A little raw and a bit shocking with the way the story revolves around what we Indians don’t even want to talk about – menstruation troubles of a woman.
 

4.    A New Triangle, Ratanlal Shant – What will be the relationship like between a husband and wife that have grown cold by the commitment, the feeling of security and the resultant ennui? What will it be like for a husband and wife, who have nothing to fear about losing the other person? Well, this story deals with it.
 

5.    Chastity Belt, Damodar Mauzo – If you are a person who works away from home for a major part of the year and stays home only for about a month or two, will you trust your wife to remain chaste and loyal to you? Especially, if you were a person who has had an affair with a married woman under similar circumstances, in the past? Well, this story deals with that dark side of love.
 

6.    The Game of Chess, Kamala Das – Written by one of the prominent Indian female authors, this story deals about a woman’s infatuation and attraction for her elderly mentor/family-friend. Not sure whether it can be called ‘love’, but Sudhir has made it clear in the foreword itself that he will be including all shades of love, so you can accept this story.
 

7.    The Bed of Arrows, Gopinath Mohanty – A bedridden middle-aged wife, physically withered but emotionally very much alive, a husband who has been loving and caring nevertheless, the arrival of a female colleague that seemingly fills the husband’s life with a bit of joy and happiness, the resulting emotional turmoil in the mind of the wife, these form the basis for this story. Intense is the word.
 

8.    Housewife, Ismat Chughtai – Deals with the many strings that bring together a woman who sells herself for a living and a pious shopkeeper who is averse to such people. Destiny makes her end up at his house, which she soon makes her own. Their resultant union in marriage and the travails thereof are humorously portrayed here. You’ll love this for sure.
 

9.    Weekend, Nirmal Verma – A man separated from his wife, but committed to be a good father to his daughter, and a woman who shares his life and bed during weekends. What will their relationship be like? Will she ever go back to him even after she learns about his abundant love and care for his daughter? I simply loved the style of writing, though averse to the mind of that woman. A lot intense, brilliant and breathtaking. You often need to stop and catch your breath so that you can understand the innumerable emotions that are packed in these words.
 

10.    The Weed, Amrita Pritam – What will happen if a poor rural girl, married to a man much older than her, brought up with the idea that love is a sin and a sort of allure caused by eating a certain type of weed, falls in love some day? Amrita Pritam, enchants with her simple way of writing in this story.
 

For someone who had never indulged much in contemporary Indian writing, this book opened up a world of new reading possibilities and introduced some brilliant Indian writers to pick from, in future. If you are a person who believes in love and its many facets, you will love reading this book for sure. For, each story will end up tugging a string from some part of your heart.