Note 35
This edition of Out of Print features a strong, significant collection of works, four of which address relationships with power and authority.
In Dalpat Chauhan’s ‘Home’, translated from Gujarati by Hemang Desai, a story of courage, human tenderness, social injustice and the inescapable cruelties that manifest in embedded social structures play out when the upper caste village head addresses the request of the dhedh protagonist, who lives on the street for untouchables, to build a pucca house.
‘The Naked Debater’ by Younis Ahmad Kaloo is set in a Kashmiri prison where young men have been rounded up and are asked to divulge information they do not have. ‘Our days in the lock-up would have been harsher and longer, if it were not for Asgar,’ says the narrator of this extraordinary tale of how the men sustain themselves through the torture and indignity with humour and story. Out of Print has tried to reach Younis Ahmad Kaloo to inform him that the magazine has accepted his work but Kaloo is based in Srinagar and, following the abrogation of Article 370 two months ago, has been unreachable by email, telephone or social media. For the first time in the magazine’s nine-year history, a story will be featured without the prior approval of the author on the editorial changes. We are proud to publish this powerful and relevant work, hope that his imagination sustains him in these dark times, and await the day when Younis will read his story on the Out of Print site, and respond.
‘Yours Truly, Guwahati’ by Chaity Das recounts how the fear of administrative authority can paralyse, and weaves around citizens seeking a state-demanded certificate of legitimacy. Mr Roy, the narrator’s neighbour and third generation transplant from Sylhet must prove that he belongs in the State.
Shahnaaz Khan’s disquieting ‘Super Power’ is told in the voice of a little girl. A favourite uncle arrives and takes his trusting niece out for a forbidden ice cream. En route, they must stop to clean her dress that gets soiled.
In ‘Visiting Archie’ by A G Sekhar, a champion bridge player, an aging child prodigy is urged by a dear friend to return to applying his mind to puzzles and strategic conundrums. Forced by her good will towards him to confront what he will do next, his thoughts evolve as he composes one email after another in response to one by her in this memoir-like reflective piece.
Jyothi Vinod’s ‘God on a Griddle’ follows a security guard whose neighbour, Rosamma has been blessed by the appearance of a ‘sacred’ chapati bearing an image of her god. This drives his wife into a frenzy as she too craves for such a sign. Which of her own many gods will appear on her chapati to guide her life?
The art on the cover of Out of Print 35 is by Laco Teren.