Meera Kamala
Before I Forget
Before I Forget
*****
I also attended the release ceremony of the short story collection Before I Forget. The book was authored by my friend and writer, Sreekumar. I was also the one who received the very first copy of the book.
The title of this book was what attracted me first. It amazed me to see how many layers of meaning a common phrase we usually utter can take on when it becomes the title of a book.
There are 31 stories in this book. Not a single one of them is very long; in fact, some stories are very short.
It is rare for the same story to be both emotional and intellectual at the same time. Yet, Sreekumar has achieved just that in every single story.
Each short story paints ordinary yet deeply emotional pictures in simple language. It is these ordinary people, objects, or events that prompt both the characters and the readers alike to search for the truth of life.
Often, it is through poetry that the familiar is made unfamiliar, and the unfamiliar is made familiar. Here, Sreekumar's magic can be seen even in very short stories, evoking a pleasant ache in our hearts.
Ordinary characters in the stories transform into extraordinary people who would go unnoticed if no one pointed them out. A person searching for a panacea (Elixir) discovers that remedy is within himself; a writer, upon catching sight of an acquaintance (Pointless), begins to emulate that life; someone admits defeat in a test just before attaining salvation and thereby achieves victory in life (Beyond); the prickly pear cactus of guilt tears through an elderly woman's body (Cacti Nursery). In this way, a profound spiritual quest threads together a diverse array of scenes.
Void of unnecessary descriptions or lengthy dialogues, Sreekumar employs the artistic techniques of minimalism and silence in most of the stories. It is only upon reading the story Caretaker multiple times that we discover a female Buddha.
The stories here are across boundaries: a dog that speaks like a philosopher (Barks in the Dark), a flowering tree that unexpectedly says thank you and makes us weep (Thank You, Bye!), a swami carrying the cross of predictability (The Prophet of Bommanappalle), a stream that absorbs the dirt of everyone who bathes in it (Stream), a merciless natural disaster (The Seventh Notebook), and a future time erased by time itself (The Cosmic Dancer) all come alive as characters in this book.
Delivering new emotions and layers of meaning with every read, these stories serve as a textbook for beginning writers. The circumstances that led to the writing of fifteen stories in this collection are also provided alongside them. I understand that the book sold a large number of copies within five days. No doubt, many people might have bought it to give as gifts simply because of its unique title.
Folio Publishers, TVM, INDIA
Pages: 202
Price: 400 INR
This book is available at the number: 91 9995866840
