Common man, uncommon portrayal

Vikrant Parmar

The simplest of things in life are often complex. Some understand this universal truth; some don’t, while others tacitly accept what destiny hurls at them. In a collection of 14 short stories, A Day In The Life, author Anjum Hasan views life from close quarters and presents an extremely intelligent take on daily living. Dreams, achievements, foibles, misgivings, triumphs, compromises; her characters epitomise a wide spectrum of human emotions.

The Stranger is about a middle-aged man who longs for peace in a new world order that bemuses him. His longing for peace is stymied by the onward march of civilization. ‘I am starting to become aware of another side to my existence. A richer pretence’, the character echoes a ubiquitous dilemma. In Sisters, two women, who share the first letter of their name, Jaan and Jamini, are the employer and maid, respectively. The former is nursed back to health by the latter, but as life is, before Jaan can pay her back, Jamini is gone. ‘People, no matter how alike, are always different’, believes the author. The Question Of Style is about a girl and her elder sister who want to grow up in a stylish manner. They are lured by ‘the sophistications of an adult world’, which is way beyond them.

Imbued in old-world charm, The Legend Of Lutfan Mian takes one back to the late nineteenth century; to the world of Lutfan Mian and Gopal, two amiable characters who have small dreams and even smaller aspirations. For them, a gambit pays off, pretty well. Yellow Rose is the tale of a girl with the ‘soul of a cyborg’ and a regular guy, where both are ‘trying a little to improve the world’.

In Godsend, two women, neighbours, move from repugnance to ardent appreciation of each other. ‘We need each other as we live our exhausting, parallel, matching lives on these facing balconies’, is the realisation that dawns. In the Lady With The Dog, a story set in Sweden, the protagonist, an old lady, battles against a ‘vague emptiness’ and pangs of ennui. Bird Love is about a girl who moves to a bigger town with her husband, in pursuit of a dream life she yearns for. ‘There is no why to the wind’, is the answer to all her queries in life. 

In I Am Very Angry, an old man struggles to cope with his argumentative neighbours, but gradually learns the art. Elite is about a shady bar and a brawl, a place where no rules are binding, while Nur narrates the story of a woman whose husband has disappeared with her money. Father, Son is the story of fights and reconciliations, while Little Granny’s Song is a poignant portrayal of a crippled woman and a day in her dreary life. The last story in the collection, A Short History Of Eating, is the tale of a young couple who try out all there is about eating together.  

Anjum’s lingual skills are par excellence, so is her acumen and diction. Save a few where the length betrays attention span; her stories are shining beads that together transmute into a breathtaking necklace. ‘What form would thoughts take if we didn’t allow them words?’the author says. Precisely!