Hello Readers
Welcome to the 4th and the last discussion post of 'Left From Dhakeshwari' by Kunal Sen
These days because of tight schedule I have been reading a lot less and this book with collection of short stories is kind of the perfect read giving me space to read at my own pace, all the 9 stories are interconnected yet they have their own individual essence which allows a reader to pick any story at anytime.
If you want to catch up then here are the previous discussion posts by my co-hosts:
I am going to discuss the last two short stories in the book, 8th and the 9th.
Short story no. 8 : 1974
This is Ratna Chakraborty's and Shudhanshu's story. To understand the story and the horror of the situation one has to see the 'Tree of Characters'. When I say horror, I mean the heartbreak combined with awe and apprehension.
"It was a day and time of promise, promises of a shared future, promises of meeting again and then never have to meet again." ~ Pg. 172, 1974Ratna is sitting on a bench of Howrah railway Station, from distance she seem like an ordinary girl but when looked upon closely she isn't. She is the ocean of emotions and tragedy, she is the one fallen for the forbidden one, she is the one who loved and was loved but Alas! love didn't come easy to her. She is the one carrying the scar (as Ratna said it) of her true lover.
"I can't love you, perhaps. But I can think about it. I am Avi's Ratna, and Bapi's Bala. And Shudhanshu's Bulbul. All of them, I am." ~ Pg. 177, 1974
Shudhanshu is a teenager, 18 year boy, unconditionally in love with Ratna ever since he could remember. But then again it is forbidden yet they loved and there were consequences. Their story ended with an open end, it ended with Ratna wishing desperately Shudhanshu to be there. Will he be there?
Short story no. 9: Tanganyika
The first meet of the protagonist of this story is really compelling. Neev Roychowdhury, the protagonist is blown away by the beauty of the girl, one of the twin sisters, who greeted him in rather an amusing manner at the door but that is not all what makes this meet interesting.
"This is home, you don't mess with it. Disasters come and cities collapse, empires fall; people die. And then we pick ourselves up. Things fall down, they break, that is life." ~ Pg. 190Tanganyika and Niharika, no ordinary girls, born twins and were joined to each other by birth. Now they reminiscence those days. They live inside the temple ruins, the temple Mahitosh, friend of Neev wants to convert into a heritage destination. Neev couldn't let the opportunity slip away but little did he know that not everything is up for sale. Neev fell for Tanganyika, one of the twin sisters but did he promise to elope with her or her sister Niharika! This is again a tragic story, where it is hard to decided albeit knowing the truth. It is about betrayal in a way but not really meaning to. This is the story about waiting for the forgiveness.
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Kunal Sen's writing style is lyrical, his lines and words have multiply meanings. One can mull over each sentence and come up with their own theory, the best and worst thing about his short stories is the ending. Best because it is open ended, you can give your twist, imagine your way out, best because it is tragic and worst for the same reasons. Sometime I just want to know and sometimes I just want to see the happy ending and this confusion makes it more intriguing.
In both the stories people are running away from themselves, they are trying to escape. If you connect the cover with these stories then you'll find that Author Kunal Sen is playing with the mind of a reader by keeping it cryptic. Mime on the cover have his eyes covered, forbidding us to see through and understand what he is thinking, it's just like what Kunal Sen is doing here with his stories, he is trying to give us vision but not through his eyes. And I somehow like it, very much.
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Now onto Questions to discuss:
1) What is it about the word 'Forbidden' that attracts one's attention. Why does one have to do the exact thing that is forbidden? Is the masochistic nature of a human being, is it curiosity or just the rebellious nature? Or is it something else altogether?
2) To what limits would you go to get that one 'Forbidden' thing?
3) How easy is to forgive when you feel cheated? When the person you want to trust the most breaks that trust in the worst possible way?
4) Why does in a relationship one always confesses the most romantic things when it is at the verge of that breaking point? I know it is kind of a bit irreverent from the story but Neev's confession regarding the beauty of Niharika just when he was leaving made me ask this question.
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I do hope that you enjoyed this read-along. Now that all the stories are read, I can say that this book was 'fun' in a tragic way :P. I want to thank Nimi @ The Readers Cosmos for giving me this opportunity to be a part of this read-along. And Thanks to Kunal Sen for writing something different and intriguing that kept us all engaged.
If you haven't read the stories still you can be the part of the discussion. I would love to know your views on the discussion questions. Please do share. :)
Happy reading
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