Note 15
In this issue of Out of Print, we offer a translation, an excerpt, a first-time short fiction author, a reimagining or an extension of a classic, a writer who creates writing communities, and a story that sharply examines a writing community.
Rheea Mukherjee’s cleverly titled Rectification Still is an extraordinary, intense diatribe against a dead friend, and a cynical, hopeful, and yet despairing self-examination by the protagonist: ‘Man, people are sharp when it comes to telling you that you’re drunk. Sober, well that’s just the expected state of being, isn’t it?’ he riles towards the end of the story where he lays out the first steps to rectification.
We feature Daisy Rockwell’s fine translation of the Hindi writer, Shrilal Shukla’s Among the Hunters. Evoking stories from many mythologies, a confrontation takes place when a young woman is accidently shot in a forest by a party of hunters. The story is true to Shukla’s critical view of post-Independence India, and to his de-romanticising of rural life.
Javed Ahmed Malik, in a seemingly straightforward way, tells the story of two friends, one from Delhi, the other from Lahore, who try to go to see the Taj Mahal. It reinforces both the terrifying and ridiculous nature of the bureaucracy that governs boundaries, and the essential nature of friendship.
In a clever retelling of Guy de Maupassant’s classic, The Necklace, the author G Sadasiv imagines the life of the couple after the ending of the original story. Referencing the twist in the tale the fates of those in the story develop in a fairly linear fashion till the startling loop at the end.
The complexity, meanness, commitment and fickleness of a fortnightly poetry group are keenly observed in R K Biwas’ Word Among Poets. Narrated by a verb and featuring the protagonist She-poet, it tells an ultimately triumphant story of language and leaving.
The close, layered, dynamics of a community is also evident in the excerpt from Mahesh Rao’s novel, A Smoke is Rising that is featured in this issue. We are introduced to the characters at a meeting of the Mahalakshmi Gardens Betterment Association, and enticed by their lives and the connections between them.
The art on the cover of Out of Print 15 is by Rohini Devasher.