{"id":2758,"date":"2017-03-03T19:31:56","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T14:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=2758"},"modified":"2020-03-05T10:58:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T05:28:48","slug":"clutch-indian-masterpieces-david-davidar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/clutch-indian-masterpieces-david-davidar\/","title":{"rendered":"A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces edited by David Davidar- A Book that Stays True to the Title"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces<\/em> is a collection of thirty nine short stories of Indian writers from 19th<\/sup> century onwards.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This book is an amazing collection of short stories. The book begins with a note from David Davidar about how he chose the stories that provides a refreshing start to the book. Without further blabbering, here are a few of my favourites from the book:<\/p>\n I was glad to see a few childhood favourites included in the collection. Kushwant Singh\u2019s Portrait of a Lady<\/em> (about his grandmother), Anita Desai\u2019s Games at Twilight<\/em> (that I studied in school and immediately fell in love with Desai\u2019s writing style), led me to a trip down the memory lane.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Shroud <\/em>by Munshi Premchand,translated from Hindi, \u00a0brings out the hypocrisy in men through a father-son duo. They share no responsibility of running the household, and still deny the women of the household the dignity they deserve.<\/p>\n A Horse and two Goats <\/em>by R. K. Narayan was a heart warming read about a poor peasant who meets a foreigner and they converse without knowing the other person\u2019s language. It was a quick, funny read.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Toba Tek Singh<\/em>, a favourite story of mine by Saadat Hasan Manto was a delight to read again. It shows the feeling of belonging to a land when the politicians who hold the reins of the country decide to partition it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Flood by Thakazhi<\/em>, translated from Malayalam, is the story of a comparison of the love between a dog and his master when disaster strikes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Somersault,<\/em> written in Oriya by GopinathMohanty, is about a man who dreams to be a wrestler and a society who cheers him and discards him according to its whim.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amrita Pritam\u2019s Punjabi story, Stench of Kerosene<\/em>, is about a man who is forced to take a second wife as the first one does not bear him a son.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n G. Tilak\u2019s The Man who saw God<\/em> is a Telugu novel with an antagonist as the hero. The character captures the heart of the reader by the end of the story.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Blue Umbrella<\/em> by Ruskin Bond is about a girl who has the prettiest umbrella in the village and a cunning shop keeper who has his eyes on it. The climax was unexpected and reaffirmed my faith in the good in humanity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Crossing the Ravi<\/em> by Gulzar is about a man whose wife gives birth to twins on a train journey and one of them is still born. Just two pages long and the horrifying climax forced me to close the book for few minutes and compose myself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then there are stories that made me cry in the end.\u00a0 In a forest, a deer<\/em> by Ambai strikes the right emotions in its translation from Tamil. It is the story of a barren woman through the eyes of the children in the household and how as the kids grow older, they begin to see her differently. Paul Zacharia\u2019s Bhaskara Pattelar and my Life<\/em> is the story of a low caste man who loves his master even though he treats him without mercy and visits his wife at night. The agony of a man who does not know whether his wife loves him or his master and his loyalty to the Pattelar that force him to do things against his conscience is beautifully portrayed. I adored this story and had tears in my eyes when it ended.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nReview<\/h3>\n