Rohinton Mistry
A literally crappy beginning does make you wonder how this book is going to play out, but in a few pages, you understand this was only literally. However, what it also points out is the author’s ability to make the mundane very interesting. Eleven intertwined stories that create a vivid world whose unique characters the reader is able to identify and relate to, though they might be far different from the self or those around.
A theme that I felt was running strong through all the stories was one of identity – at both collective and individual levels. There is obviously the Parsi way of life, and their interactions with the world at large. Without really resorting to stereotypes or tropes, the author is able to bring out the way of life and the struggle between its past and future through various characters, and their relationships and interactions. At an individual level, for example, Jaakaylee who was Jacqueline identifies herself as the former after 49 years of working among Parsis who called her that. Many stories bring out the tussle between generations as children grow up and understand the need for changes in their way of thinking and living if they are to survive in the world, even as parents cling on to traditions and cannot understand the need for change. The author uses Kersi’s character at both the personal and collective levels to show how life shifts with time.
Two of my favourite stories are “Of white hairs and cricket” and “Lend me your light”. Both star Kersi and are points in his life that make him realise how the world he inhabits is constantly shifting, and he cannot always hold on to the things he thought were eternal. The last paragraph in the first story is something I could wholly relate to – when one feels precious things slipping through fingers and is powerless to stop it. I think anyone who has had to leave a place they considered home will be able to relate to the second story – the array of mixed feelings when one has to leave, when one has to visit even for a short time, and the idea of being a stranger in one’s own home.
There is an excellent skill of observation that has been put to good use in all the stories, and a remarkable sensitivity that is evident in the writing. The writing technique somehow feels rich even when writing about the ordinary days of a life, and somehow, despite that, or maybe because of it, one feels that these are people one might actually know already.
