Overview

In a narrative that is fresh, spontaneous and inventive, Kula Saikia delves into the inner feelings of his characters to explore their psychological landscape. The complexities of urban living are depicted in apparently simple storylines and day-to-day situations, but the author frequently forays into the minds of the characters to fathom human desires and anxieties. The chaos, violence and disorder occurring in the physical world are reflected in the recesses of the mind, which makes reading the stories both fascinating and puzzling. Saikia's characters lead a multi-layered life in search of identity and purpose, and display as well as hide their joy and tears. This collection of twenty stories in English translation represents a rich oeuvre that earned the author the Sahitya Akademi award in 2015, for his 'post-modernist style of storytelling with an occasional touch of magic realism'.

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9789352907502

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Reviews

'Set in varied landscapes, some stories are narrated in first person and some in third, but almost every story ends with a twister, an important takeaway. The writing has a personal tone, giving it an anecdotal feel, and the characters are quite relatable along with the situations they are in. The book, in a way, shadows the meandering of a river through different geographies; changing its form continuously, but always carrying something familiar with it.' CHANAKYA GROVER, The News Freedom 'The 200-page book keeps betraying the rootedness as well as cosmopolitanism of its author who had been a lecturer and bureaucrat before his current stint as a top police officer in his north-eastern state.' SREEVALSAN T., Outlook 'Translated from Assamese, each of the 20 tales is narrated with a certain measure of delicacy and literary elegance . . . These come through a host of characters who seem to be seeking small pleasures in most mundane of situations, locations, relationships and social interactions but with significant profundity.' SUPARNA-SARASWATI PURI, The Tribune 'The book is remarkable in the way the author delves deeper into the mindsets of his characters and tries to analyse them without using cliches or becoming verbose. He does it in indirect ways but goes with the flow of his storytelling. This appears to be the real strength of his writing which has a whiff of freshness.' P.B. JOSHI, Free Press Journal

'Set in varied landscapes, some stories are narrated in first person and some in third, but almost every story ends with a twister, an important takeaway. The writing has a personal tone, giving it an anecdotal feel, and the characters are quite relatable along with the situations they are in. The book, in a way, shadows the meandering of a river through different geographies; changing its form continuously, but always carrying something familiar with it.' CHANAKYA GROVER, The News Freedom 'The 200-page book keeps betraying the rootedness as well as cosmopolitanism of its author who had been a lecturer and bureaucrat before his current stint as a top police officer in his north-eastern state.' SREEVALSAN T., Outlook 'Translated from Assamese, each of the 20 tales is narrated with a certain measure of delicacy and literary elegance . . . These come through a host of characters who seem to be seeking small pleasures in most mundane of situations, locations, relationships and social interactions but with significant profundity.' SUPARNA-SARASWATI PURI, The Tribune 'The book is remarkable in the way the author delves deeper into the mindsets of his characters and tries to analyse them without using clichés or becoming verbose. He does it in indirect ways but goes with the flow of his storytelling. This appears to be the real strength of his writing which has a whiff of freshness.' P.B. JOSHI, Free Press Journal

Author Information

Dr KULA SAIKIA (b. 1959, Assam) did his postgraduation from the Delhi School of Economics and taught Economics in Hindu College, Delhi University for a while. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1985 and presently holds the rank of Director General of Police, Assam. He has been twice awarded the President's police medal for his outstanding contribution to policing. As a Fulbright Fellow, he went to the Pennsylvania State University, USA during 2000-01. He worked briefly as a Consultant in the World Bank, Washington. He holds a PhD degree in Economics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. Dr Saikia has eighteen published collections of short stories to his credit, as well as a novel. He has written three plays and scripted two telefilms for Doordarshan. His short stories have been translated into Hindi, Bangla, Odia, Marathi and Telugu. He received the Sahitya Akademi award in 2015 for his collection of stories, Akashar Chhabi Aru Ananya Galpa.

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