LITTI CHOKHA AUR ANYA KAHANIYA BY GEETASHREE
A collection of short stories uses the famous Bihari dish ‘Litti Chokha’ as a cultural symbol to highlight the themes of displacement, regional customs, local color and loneliness.
Litti Chokha Aur Anya Kahaniya
Geetashree
Rajpal and Sons
The readers are invited to a colourful splash! A look at the book cover and you taste the regional aroma this book promises to serve. In what appears to be a Mithila painting, a woman clad in a saree, with a pallu over her head, holds a fan under a lush tree, creating a colourful mosaic. Written about Bihar and the lives lived within its rural landscape, this book is a collection of ten short stories.
The first story is the eponymous, ‘Litti Choka’. The opening lines unfold a memory. ‘I have heard someone speak like that. This is how we speak, right?’ Imbued with rich local dialect, phrases and words, you will feel proud to have recollected a piece of your childhood. Engaging the readers in a blend of nostalgia and culinary delight, the narrative captures the galore of the 70th birthday of Ramvachan Babu. The readers in partaking with the celebration are set to rediscover a nearly hazy cultural history woven around food, festivals and celebrations. Each story is independent and unique in its own right. Pam Pam Babu, the ‘hakparwa’, pays obeisance to his departed childhood friend, Janaki Devi, in a very distinct style. Neelanti, from Sri Lanka, travels to Bihar for love. Will she live up to the expectations of Arun’s mother? The readers are not only taken to the districts of Bihar but are also made aware of the local customs that are still followed in some of the pockets untouched by modernity. Cross-cultural migration, language barrier and cultural discord are also showcased in Neelanti and Arun’s proposed love story.
As you head to the fourth story, Tullu follows Neelu to Delhi, but his quest takes a tragic turn. Not only does he face an identity crisis in a metropolitan with no skills to sustain himself, but he is also left lovelorn. In another story, what lengths will Bunty go to bring his newlywed back home? These two characters, Tullu and Bunty, start out as innocent young men in search of love and acceptance, but on rejection and also fearing being called henpecked by their friends, turn hard-hearted, taking no woman’s whims to heart. They realise they are men and are supposed to rule, not vice versa. Aashna, from a small locale in Mokama, leaves for Delhi to pursue her dreams, but is cheated of Rajat’s love. The story not only highlights the complexities of modern-day love in the era of social media but also captures the lingering anxiety and loneliness in cosmopolitan cities. As readers, you will also travel to the snowclad mountain, reawakening an escapist tendency and a yearning to be one with nature in Yasir. Uma waits for his husband for twelve long years and, in the process, empowers herself. She refuses to return when her husband comes back and leaves for good. Sapna is after a smell. A stink that makes her lose her mind. Neha, her friend, consults a psychiatrist. Later, Sapna learns of her father’s death. In visiting her childhood home, where her father’s corpse is waiting, she unearths the mystery of the smell. In the tenth and the last story, Seema tries to understand the taboo lurking behind Rohit.
All ten stories will take you on a tour where you witness in parts loss and in parts love. You are offered nuanced portraits of human nature. In some, women are silenced, and in some, they refuse to. In no way is familiarity with the local colour lost, but also the stories, though etched in local dialect, have a universal appeal. The emotions are familiar. The author has a fondness for detail, but a sense of humour is also present in equal measure. It is after a long time that I read a short story in Hindi, but not without hiccups. My reading pace faced several potholes in understanding the local dialect. Perhaps, these are also a witness to the author’s sincerity to her roots and the rich vocabulary that it entails. In all music, food, manners and clothing compels us to realize author’s artistic ambition in becoming a cultural custodian.
Pic Details: Exotic India Art