Posted on August 4, 2009 - by Sutapa Biswas

UNACCUSTOMED EARTH (BOOK REVIEW)

Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘Unaccustomed Earth’ is a collection of stories dealing mainly with the lives of ordinary human beings living in a foreign land. The title itself reflects the condition of the people trying to accustom themselves to the ways of their adopted land. Fortunately or unfortunately while attuning themselves to a different culture they invariably lose a part of themselves. Human relationships, more particularly family relationships, constitute the major theme, be it a relationship between a father and a daughter, a brother and sister, a father or son, or a man and a woman all the stories have a deep realistic tone and are usually deeply moving. The stories also deal with the crises and search of human identity and human spirit.

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Posted on April 10, 2009 - by Sutapa Biswas

The Last Rites – A Short Story

After consigning his father’s ashes to the river Ganges, Amit sat beside the bank of the river seeking solace. Though the ambience and the atmosphere were peaceful as well as spiritual, Amit felt a deep turmoil going on inside him. He had been in this restless state of mind from the day he had heard about his father’s death. Till now he did not get the time to mourn him, and now something was eating him up. Maybe the pain of not being able to see or talk to him before his sudden demise, brought about the heaviness of his heart and this feeling refused to go away.

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Posted on April 4, 2009 - by Sutapa Biswas

Shakespeare’s Tragic Vision

The Elizabethan tragedy and comedy has been deeply influenced by the writers of the Greek and Italian origin likes Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Seneca of the renaissance period in mid-Fifteenth century. The idea of Fate or Destiny was literally imported from the Greek tragedians. The essence of Greek tragedy was ‘The favourite and the most important theme of the old tragic poets was the irony of destiny and the futility of human wisdom. To exhibit man as the unconscious victim of fate, boldly advancing on his own destruction, and more and more confident as he approaches his doom, was the object of most of the greatest dramas. But to unfold the full pathos of the situation, it was necessary to lift the veil from the eyes of the spectators and to let them discern clearly the dark figure of DESTINY in the background, towards which the doomed man was being drawn with slow but certain steps”. For instance in Sophocles’s Oedipus the king, the hero’s struggle with destiny goes beyond conceivable proportion than what he really deserves.  Interestingly, the tragic dramas of the Greeks instead of creating disgust in the mind of the audience develop awe and admiration for the magnificence of human courage and fortitude. A similar impression is left on the mind of a reader of Shakespearean tragedy. (more…)

Posted on April 2, 2009 - by Sutapa Biswas

The Mother — Part 4

Life did go on but slowly. Sarita once a week talked with Shruti. They had settled down even though accomodation was still a problem.

Depression and lonliness started eaating inti the soul of Sarita. While taking care of her children she had forgotten to take care of herself and to add to it, age was catching up. She was growing old. Moreover, it had been several years since she had seen Mansi and Nina.

Though Nina used to come to Chennai for the purpose of business, she had to immediately leave for states for lack of time. She would apologise for not being able to meet her. Life was busy for them and recently Nina was going through divorce and was fighting for her son’s custody. (more…)

Posted on April 2, 2009 - by Sutapa Biswas

The Mother — Part 3

Shruti was in the final year of Master’s degree in English Literature. She had already decided to become a teacher after finishing the course. Further, Shruti wanted to take care of her mother. Being the youngest she had witnessed her mother’s secrifice for long and knew that presently her mother needed her the most.

Time went by. Shruti got a job after securing 1st class in her exam. A year later even Nina married an American and started a business. Sarita took the news calmly for she had already been conditioned by her eldest daughter.

Meanwhile Sarita now started thinking of marrying Shruti to an Indian groom and fulfil her dreams and wishes by bestowing everything on her. (more…)

Posted on April 1, 2009 - by Sutapa Biswas

The Mother — Part 2

After a while with a nod and a smile, Mansi turned to her sisters and hugged them,”Be good, don’t trouble, Ma. I will call whenever i can.” saying this she picked up her handbag and touched her mother’s feet, slowly straightened and walked away. Once, before entering the secure zone she turned to wave and with a flying kiss she disappeared into the other side.

In the ensuing month Sarita missed her Mansi a lot and so whenever she could she gave her a call. The huge phone bill forced her to curtail her calls and as months went by Mansi’s phone calls too came down to once or twice a month. Couple of years later Nina took a decision to go to America for future studies. Sarita had to go along with her decision as well, even though she was facing financial crunch. (more…)

Posted on March 31, 2009 - by Sutapa Biswas

The Mother — Part 1

It was exactly five years since she had lost her beloved husband to cancer. It had indeed been tough to accept that her life-partner, her soulmate was no longer with her. But she had to carry on for the sake of her three daughters who (too) had lost their father. Mansi the eldest was 12 then, Nina was 10 and Shruti was 7 years old. Even now she could see the pain of loss in their eyes. Sarita had to forget about her own loss and pain and somehow bring up her daughters to the best of her ability. They were her lifeline. Rearing them and guiding them without a father figure to look up  to, had been tough. But Sarita had already made up her mind that she would provide them the best of everything especially education so that they could live with dignity in life. No doubt their father had provided enough for their upbringing, but still life always demands more. Thus, Sarita, squaring her shoulders had vowed that whatever her daughters desired to achieve in life, she would try her best to help and support them. (more…)

Posted on March 23, 2009 - by Sutapa Biswas

Review – “White Man Falling” by Mike Stocks

The novel ‘White Man Falling’ by Mike Stocks reminds one of another renowned novel, ‘The Guide’ written by R.K.Narayan and published in the year 1958. The subject of both the novel is “about someone suffering enforced sainthood.”

Both are quintessentially Indian stories concerning a very special facet of Indian life dealing with the vast Indian population living in semi-urban and rural areas where people still cherish traditional values, old customs and beliefs. But the similarity ends here.

Mr.Mike Stocks writes straight ahead with underlying metaphors and creates character who have an innate innocence and simplicity. The sympathy, the author tries to conjure for them stems more from the circumstances in which the characters finds themselves than from their own personalities. As such, Mr. R.M Swaminathan the protagonist of the ‘White Man Falling’ is an ex-cop who is a family man, having a wife and six daughters. After suffering a stroke while administering ‘a mild custodial beating to a very guilty suspect in the lock up of Mullaipuram Police Station’ develops speech and mobility problem. His physical disability ultimately becomes a blessing for his life. (more…)

The Teacher — Part 4

by Sutapa Biswas on March 18, 2009