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Literary Review
Well-crafted vignettes
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Written over a period of a decade and a half, these stories reveal the author's mellowed and mature vision, says PADMINI DEVARAJAN.
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IT is apparent that from the start, in this short story collection, Prof. Shiv K. Kumar is in full control of the narration, even as he projects his insights into the foibles and failures of ordinary men and women in urban and rural spaces. Written over a period of 14 years or so, these well-crafted vignettes reveal an experienced novelist with a mellowed and mature vision. The unbiased comment, at times ruthless but always pertinent and with guarded restraint, easily mouse-clicks on the many obstinate questionings that lie within the individual consciousness.
The strength of the stories lies in the writer's penchant for freezing the moments that matter to ordinary men and women, and in spotting the essence of commonness in them. "To Nun with Love" dares to trespass into the inner mental recesses of the two characters, Sister Jasmine and the admiring parent, but without trespassing the limits of decency. Even as the reader is led to share the shame, anger and tears of Sister Jasmine, so also is the ability to vibe with the admirer who means no harm to her. Such scrupulous honesty to enter the personality of the other is the secret good writing.
As a satirist, the writer is unafraid of drawing aside the drapes of hypocrisy and sham that seem to safeguard middle-class ethics. In each of the characters and in most of the situations, the reader is led to join the author's stance (self-imposed and rigorous) of intimacy and distance. The innate nobility of the human spirit that fights against baser instincts becomes the bastion on which these stories are built. "Point Counterpoint", "A Bird From another Country", "The House of Heaven", "The Sheik's Bride" are stories that impinge on marriage harmony, where desire, loyalty, faith and love are played against adultery, infidelity and deceit.
The cynicism of Vinod that questions the integrity of Rita ("Point Counterpoint") coexists with his love for his daughter, and the consequent regard for the institution of marriage. Pran's anguish ("A Bird From Another Country") is the private loneliness of the cuckold; while the innocent, unsuspecting wife, Rekha, is unaware of the flirtatious nature of the husband Vinod ("Crossfire"). A fledgling marriage ending on the rocks, and then divorcees meeting and getting married ("House of Heaven") captures the typical American lifestyle, set in Oklahoma. Mrs. Williamson belongs to the brood of the lonely old who have turned blatantly selfish.
Poignant pictures are painted in Mahadevan's longing to see the house that had been sold off to the builders ("The House"), or in the fate of Fatima ("The Sheik's Bride") who died like a bumblebee, unable to prove her innocence. The sleek precision practised by cheats and conmen on the gullibility of people acquires a new dimension when Mrs. Bose plays the role to perfection in La Belle Dame Sans Merci style ("The Property Dealer"). The suavely stage-managed settlement to keep the domestic help Guddi's family away from the spoilt Sundar ("The Ragpicker's Daughter") is aimed at the confused values of the status conscious. Maya ("Crooked Face in the Moon") dies unable to meet dowry demands.
The Keatsian sensuousness in "Lips", "Eyes", "Hands", "Fingers", "Voices", "Hair" and "Feet" is a treat to poetry lovers. The well-framed plot in all these stories with an O. Henrian twist is compensated by the charming prose and easy flowing dialogues that quickly catch the essence of the characters, so essential for the compactness that a short story demands.
A seasoned octogenarian writer, an admired teacher, an insightful critic and a renowned scholar, Padma Shree Shiv K. Kumar is, above all, a man with a compassion for humanity. All these elevate these stories from merely a critique on human accountability to something more profound.
To Nun with Love and Other Stories, Shiv K. Kumar, Orient Longman, p. 134, Rs. 175.
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