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Flights of Fancy

There is a warning at the beginning itself. If you have a conventional heart you might not like Kuzhali Manickavel’s short story collection.

But ‘Insects Are Just Like You And Me Except Some Of Them Have Wings’ (Blaft Publications,Price: Rs 195, Pages: 144) seems to be the right kind of stuff for those who are game for a few blows and shocks.

The book accommodates 35 short stories each snapping different lives and their concerns . The essential mood is stark and sombre. Some of the stories seem like eccentric outbursts capable of rattling your sensibilities.

‘Flying and falling’ is one such story. Muhil was born during a legendary thunderstorm that uprooted every banana tree in the village and sent a legion of white crabs to die on the highway.

She had a spongy knob on each shoulder and she didn’t cry. Muhil tries to break her head frequently leaving her father Ilango in a state of depression. Ilango tires to communicate with his child in vain.

At times he feels she has developed wings . Once Ilango is taken to the police station on charges of attempting to kill his daughter but is later released.

Then he takes Muhil to an abandoned bridge at the outskirts of the village where he makes her look at the sky- at the stars and treetops. Slowly he loosens his grip on her and asks her to fly.

‘Fly and don’t go far,’ he tells her. The story freezes on Ilango who waits with outstretched hands for her to come back.

The story ‘Ezekial Soloman’s Shoe’ is about memories and its grip over some people. Twelve years after Ezekiel Solomen went missing his shoe appears in the middle of the road, disturbing Sesadri, a baker.

The thing is that right before Ezekiel had disappeared he had turned and waved at Sesadri. Though Sesadri buries the shoe, it comes out making him remember Ezekial more and more.

He even warns the shoe not to come back but it resurfaces time and again and tires him. Finally Sesadri finds a solution -he keeps the shoe under his table. Well written and creatively crafted this is one of the best stories in this collection.

In ‘Dolphin King’, Senthil says,’Karna was better than Arjuna at everything but for some reason we have named the sports awards after Arjuna. They should be called Karna Awards.’

The stories abound with such topsy turvy ideas and visuals. Many of them are accompanied by fine elaborative sketches making the world seem like a newborn .

Given the title, it is not surprising that insects pervade Kuzhali’s stories.
Coconut beetles, butterflies, ants and a snake inhabit the narratives.They seem like small dots around which the stories have been spun.

The captions accompanying the illustrations are interesting and peculiar. One, for example, says ‘a guide to life in a small indian town repesented by a lateral view of a Locust with wings and legs removed’.

Artist Malavika P C’s illustrations capture the mood of the narrations perfectly. Like memories of insect bites the stories may remain with you forever.

charu_01	Latest page update: made by charu_01 , Sep 24 2008, 4:02 AM EDT (about this update About This Update Edited by charu_01 view changes - complete history)
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