The very ground beneath our feet : a review

Every passing day leaves the imprint of an experience. The moments floating away weave into a tapestry blending together the threads of learning life’s most precious of lessons. Be it the secrets to coping with upheavals or the words of the wise that teach us the very essence of our existence. But it is through the volumes of prose and poetry we get a glimpse into the greater sphere of things.

I have come across one such author in my pursuit of reading who in her writing can encapture a myriad of emotions,circumstances and experiences that touch a common cord with anyone who wants to pick up a good book; Jhumpa Lahiri.

In an almost trilogical fashion her latest offering ‘Unaccustomed Earth’ she places before us eight compelling stories that tap right into the pulse of the human psyche.

Her Pulitzer -prize winning debut ‘The Interpreter of Maladies’ was also a collection of short stories that shed light on the post-colonial diaspora faced by the multitude of the South-east Asians who’d left their homelead in pursuit of the ‘American Dream’. These were brief vignettes into events that could shake the very brass tacks of relationships like a clandestine affair in ‘Sexy’ or a couple’s displaced relationship in the aftermath of a miscarriage in ‘A Temporary Matter’. Lahiri’s style was established in this book as crisp,evocative and exquisite in its prose compelling both the classic-reading audience as well as a paperback one. The stories left an impact on a reader no matter what style they were accustomed to reading.

Graduating further she penned ‘The Namesake’ her full length novel that went on to becoming an international phenomenon and an award winning film of the same name directed by the effervescent Mira Nair.( of ‘Salaam Bombay’ and ‘Vanity Fair’ fame)

Once again readers were enthused by her simplistic technique of storytelling and thereby immortalising ‘The Overcoat’ by Nicolai Gogol. Only an author of Lahiri’s caliber could actually take very ordinary characters and breathe into them a lifethat evoked freshness and sincerity. These characters can never be disliked for the decisions they make or the choices they turn to as a result of their actions. Like the confused, emotionally floundering Moushimi who after battling with duty and desire decides to follow her heart treading over the embittered pieces of Gogol Ganguly’s dreams. All of Lahiri’s characters are flawed and human that they attain a cathartic state of grace when they exit the story.

The title story ‘Unaccustomed Earth’ sketches a subtle approach to a displaced relationship shared between a father and daughter who have drifted due to circumstances created by an inability to communicate feelings.

‘Hell-Heaven’ showcases a hardhitting cacaphony of shattered dreams and the illusions that one creates in their minds when they are young.

I particularly found ‘Only Goodness’ very endearing in her treatment of a brother-sister relationship,of a sister who quests to create a perfect world for her baby brother. In course of the story she faces her fair share of heartbreak in the wake of his choices. The author brings forth another facet of the bitter truth many south asian parents shield as a son’s mistakes overtake their lives. They continue to evade reality by covering up for his inability to take responsibility for his own life.

The best collection in this book is the second part namely the stories ‘Hema and Kaushik’. This traces an unconventional lovestory with a sheer drop of a twist that leaves you with a knot in your throat. It is refreshing to see how she creates these silhouettes who later in the tales take on a very realistic, tormented form linked only by their personal pain. How destiny decides unwittingly their fate forms the crux of this triage of stories.

On the whole ‘Unaccustomed Earth’ gives the genre of short story fiction a new and crisp outlook. The author has paid keen attention to detail and the nuances linger in your mind long after the book has been finished and put away.