Another book by Chita Banarjee Divakaruni that is woven around the concept of stories.
I love the way she exploits the art of story telling or the concept of a story itself in her books. The idea behind the book is brilliant. The concept powerful.
9 lives trapped in a room after an earthquake. A motely crowd drawn in the room by a certain pre ordained fate- all of them waiting in the visa office for their India trip.
And how do they pass their time as they wait for help or inevitable death- by telling stories to each other- stories from their life or is it story of their life itself? Stories that shaped them in some way, stories that had atleast one amazing thing that affected them and their life - one turning point in their life.
The concept, I reiterate, is brilliant. The book was not gripping or riveting or a page turner- the kind which you cannot stop reading- you live the book until you finish it- you walk with it, you talk about it, you read it on the way to work, or in front of the TV or at bed time or in the loo. No, I read it at the slowest of pace. I did not feel compelled to read it and mostly I did not get closure. What is their fate? We are to interpret it ourselves. But then, I need to be told in black and white what happened.
Or is there a sequel coming in? I am prepared to wait. Atleast for the sake of the characters in the book who are maybe just one step away from closure themselves- one India trip away.
If I were to draw a similar parallel in my life- is there one amazing thing that became a turning point for me? I do not know. Maybe I have lots of tiny amazing things that are mini turning points but is there one such singular incident that impacts me hugely, alters the course of my life. May be not. I rack my brains but I find none.
May be small moments of truth that make me sit up and think and even alter the course of my thinking.
2 comments:
Wonderful post..Food for thought!!
Life flows like a river..meandering to its destination.
Those curves are our moments of truth, which seemed innocuous or insignificant at that point of time when one looks back at it..those were the defining moments, which significantly did alter our thinking process or incidents, which changed the course of life.
Come to think abt it... those 'tiny moments' of thought were not only contributed by our loved ones but equally whom we love to hate or from people whom we want to forget or are bad memories.
The memory of my favourite teacher in school is as vivid as the most hated teacher...memoirs of my best friend in school or college are equally clear to that classmate, whom i loved to hate!!
You post actually made me sit up and think. Even for me, I can't say that there was one single incident which shaped my life, it was all the while a series of small interesting situations that shaped me :) Come to think of it, what would I have done without them? Maybe life would have taken a different course altogether :)
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