Shades of women’s lives
Name of the book: Beyond Milestones
Writer: Manju Borah
Publisher: Purbanchal Prakash
Number of pages: 312
Price: Rs 350
Beyond Milestones is a collection of short stories by Manju Borah, translated into English from the Assamese original.
Manju Borah has been a force to reckon with in the world of meaningful cinema in the Northeast. She is particularly revered for her realistic take on social-cultural issues, bringing them alive on celluloid. Having created gems like Baibhab, Anya Ek Yatra, Akashitora, Laaz and Joymati, which have enthralled audiences beyond linguistic boundaries, her book is an endeavour to bring the storyteller and her stories accessible to both her Assamese and non-Assamese readers.
In the foreword, the author says Beyond Milestones is a chronicle of trivial yet un-ignorable experiences of life. Women, and their struggle to redefine themselves, as well as their roles in the changing societal dynamics, form the crux of these stories.
The title story chronicles the life of Anurag Kashyap, an IIT student who becomes abandons the prospects of a promising corporate career and becomes an IAS aspirant after a friend of his commits suicide. At the IAS coaching centre, he meets a girl trapped in a loveless marriage and with a daughter. The end is a let down, as Anurag decides to free the girl from her bondage and the essence of the story also gets drowned in digressions like dwelling too long on the physical attributes of the girl.
There is also a tendency to stereotype in many of the stories
Whether it is the divorcee Anu, a single mother on a constant quest for love in Cupid Void or the ambitious Maya and Anamika, who assert their independence by indulging in extra-marital affairs in Belle Fantasies, or the scorned woman in Smothered Trust and Transformation; there is a faint hint of a predisposition to typecast and that is a disappointment from a fine woman writer, as one expects a much deeper sensibility and sensitivity to the grey areas.
In the post-feminist era, a woman as the sole carrier of tradition and culture is a bit passé.
It is Pori’s endearing and heartbreaking story which stays with the reader long after one is done reading the book. Told with delicate poignancy, the story of a schoolgirl whose house is razed to give way to a road gives a child’s perspective on development-induced displacement. Pori’s happy world crumbles when she comes back from school to find no one fussing over her meal or asking her how her day was, as the elders in the family are busy grappling with their loss.
The translation is edgy and strained in parts in an attempt to retain the essence of the local. Inevitably, some elements are “lost in translation” but it works just fine.
Pick up a copy. You’ll not be disappointed.
SUMEELA ADHIKARIMAYUM
Published on October 21, 2011
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