Singing Earth Stories Woven With a Twist of Love

Author: Nirmala Pillai
Publisher: LiFi Publications, New Delhi
(Pp 196, ISBN 978-81-82536-77-2, Rs 200)

Singing Earth Stories Woven With a Twist of Love is a collection of stories that captures the twists and turns of emotions as it weaves the darkness and light of love, hate and ruse in its numerous hues. Whether it is deaf and dumb Bano who expresses her love in the beautiful pieces of silk she we a v e s , or Abdul who waits anxiously for his daughter to return from town after hearing about the curfew near her college or Dhiren coming of age is confused and frightened with the awakening of feelings as a teenager for his teacher, or the cruelty of a random killing by street boys. Dr Lakshmi Kannan in her foreword to the book rightly mentions, “The stories strike a chord in the reader because of the deep compassion with which she touched upon the lives of her protagonists….”

Nirmala Pillai has chosen subjects which seem closer to her heart and feels others should care about. It is this genuine caring, which is the most compelling element of this collection of short stories. It is not usually a good idea for a reviewer to reveal something important that comes up at the end of a story. The proof of pudding lies in eating.

The one thing that ultimately matters in story writing is simply trying to create a strong and original narrative, plus always aiming to make every story a little tour de force. Nirmala Pillai has a masterful blend of fabulist storytelling in her style.

– GS Jolly