Swimmer Among the Stars
Author : Kanishk Tharoor
Publication : Aleph, Rs 499
Taking the readers across themes, situations, and continents, Swimmer Among The Stars establishes Kanishk Tharoor as not just an evocative storyteller but also as someone who loves his vocation, writes ANANYA BORGOHAIN
For a debut, Kanishk Tharoor’s collection of short stories titled Swimmer Among the Stars, which he released at the Jaipur literature Festival this month, is delightfully versatile and juxtaposes an archaic, fabular charm with contemporary resonance, and makes the readers traverse across myriad themes, situations, and countries. He employs a powerful narrative technique wherein there is a healthy and charming balance of powerful content and poetic form of writing. Not only are his metaphors evocative, but he has intelligently employed his familiarity with a range of subjects – politics, history, chronicles, tales, et al – to compile an anthology that modern Indian writing in English (provided this complex phrase can be comfortably applied to this context) can be proud of.
His opening story, Elephant at Sea, is set in 1979 when the Second Secretary of the Indian embassy to Morocco receives a message: Elephant en route. While one could consider the probability of it being a code or an allegorical manifestation, fact is, it is indeed a real elephant on its way to a princess’s house in Morocco. The second story, Fall of an Eyelash, is distanced from its predecessor’s tone and tenor and reflects an emotional vexation of the young Forough, a refugee who hopes that the ‘magic’ of a fallen eyelash will reunite her with her long-lost brother. The titular story is about the last speaker of a language facing ethnographers with digital recorders: “It simply confirms reality to the last speaker, that the old world of her mind is cut adrift from humans and can only be pulped into a computer”. Something grips one there with a striking resonance.
While A lesson in Objects presents a common dilemma faced by a young man in a long distance relationship with his lover, The loss of Muzaffar goes back to the antiquated allure while depicting the story of Muzaffar, a cook; but “the aromas of Muzaffar’s irresistible cooking” are fatal as he prepares a dish made of precious stones. On the other hand, A United Nations in Space is about a fraternity of international diplomats stuck in near-earth orbit.
Although the stories differ from one another, at least ostensibly, they are still united by a shared theme of loss and oblivion. Interestingly, ironically, and even paradoxically, it is as if a sense of alienation is what is keeping the world of these characters together. At least in this collection, the stories find a common space in displacement. The author’s attention to detail and vivid imagination establish him not just as a talented creator of unique nuances and circumstances but also as an original storyteller who is in love with his vocation. It also gives an impression that he is immensely fond of times bygone, of the historical past and political present alike, and of both strife and desire. Occasionally, and no matter how hard one tries to avoid putting forth this comparison, his style of writing reminds one of his father’s (Shashi Tharoor). Particularly because of the similar urge to describe or emphasise a situation or a person with an artful sequence of striking words in long sentences that still create vivid imagery!
Some of the stories, the author earlier mentioned, have also been inspired by real life instances. Also, with a pleasingly designed cover in green light sea turquoise colour (keeping up with the title) by Bena Sareen, the jacket presents ‘Alexander is lowered into the sea’, a folio from a khamsa of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. While in India it has hitherto been a matter of concern that publishers shy away from the short story format as it is supposedly unviable in the consumer market, this anthology will hopefully go a long way in reconfiguring the pattern.
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