Unaccustomed Earth
Its a collection of short stories by noted author Jhumpa Lahiri.
Each story opens up the human nature in a different way. A brief synopsis.
1. Unaccustomed earth : The title story tells the tale of a father and daughter, separated by the invisible walls of loneliness, after the death of their only common thread, his wife, her mother. The distances which grow between them. Each's idea of bridging it. The father never wanting to be near his daughter for more than a fortnight. The daughter wanting him to take care of her family in an Indian fatherly way. The unaccustomed earth of her kitchen garden, where she has recently moved, becomes their bonding place as the father develops a special love for his grandson.
This is the best story of the lot. A deep uneasiness in the characters. The uncomfortably comfortable relations they share. The way even a father and daughter separated by a huge emotional gap, would bond at an unaccustomed place.
Thumbs up to this story!!
2. Hell-Heaven : This story explores the psyche of a woman. Her instincts and her emotional capabilities. As a woman, the author knows eaxctly which shades to highlight. Her observations of the human mind leave a lasting impression.
3. A choice of accomodations : The story of an emmigrant boy and his american wife. A very simple story, about how marriages work, fall apart and again work. Again her observations of those tiny emotions, captured in words, is simply amazing.
4. Only goodness : I personally liked this one too. The story of two siblings, who brought up in a foreign culture, loose the bonding while growing up. The efforts of one as the responsible and competitive sister always losing against the carefree and lost brother. A secret of drinking beer at nights after their parents fall asleep, turns into an addiction for the brother. Something which is unacceptable to the Indian mindsets of the parents. This devastates the perfect family the sister's trying to nurture.
Again her meticulous observations and the ability to weave story in a flashback stand out.
5. No Body's Business : A complicated love traingle. That's the only thing that comes to my mind when I think about it.
6. Hema and Kaushik : Fiction at its best. The story of two individuals with separate lifestyles joined by a single thread, a dead woman. This story travels from American coasts to Europe to Asia to leave a lasting impression. Kaushik's need to keep on moving, not to settle at a single place, not to feel the sense of belonging. And Hema's struggle to make herself feel belonged, by trying to settle in a foreign country. Their love and its defeat. The sad end to the story. Every part is touching.
Lahiri's emotional wisdom is just amazing. She delves into such realms of the mind, so effortlessly, that you relate with the lives and struggles of the characters. The stories do seem bounded by the whole emigrant experience.
A good and soft read if you are really into short stories.
Ironically I have not read her earlier works. I have to dig more now. She is impressive!!