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Book Review
Short stories
BERU — A collection of short stories: Satish Chapparike: Ankita Pustaka, No. 53 Shamsingh Complex, Gandhi Bazaar Main Road, Basavangudi, Bangalore-560004. Rs. 80.
THE AUTHOR, a journalist by profession, has an uncanny ability to paint colourful pictures in words, especially in making a reader experience the situations in the stories.
In the first half of four stories, "Artha", "Sethuve", "Beru" and "Mara", the reader experiences the rural life of Northern Karnataka in full, whether it is the death of a near relative, or the actions of a younger brother towards his dying elder, or the shocks experienced by a hard working landlord due to the insensitive actions of his sons.
The stories in the second half are urban based but the rural touch is still there, and the quality is the same. Another point is the almost effortless use of the local dialect.
Though a reader may be unfamiliar with this dialect, after a few pages he finds himself at home with it, appreciating the emotions and plans of the characters. It is however in moralising that the author looks immature. For the story, "Beru", he agrees with one of the characters that everyone is really selfish in the beginning though they may change later. Even the banyan tree, he says, grows roots to serve the selfish purpose of surviving, though after becoming a tree it does provide shade and comfort to passers by.
This is dangerous philosophy - that there is nothing wrong in everyone being selfish or adopting any means to prosper in the beginning though they may change later. Our poets have always said: "Rivers flow for the sake of others, trees give shade and fruits only to others... only men are selfish... ."
G.D.
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