Penguin First Proof 5
Penguin First Proof is an annual volume by Penguin that aims at promoting the ‘best new writing’ from India. I haven’t read any of the first four volumes, but volume 5 goes some way to convincing me that it’s worth looking out for this series annually.
‘Some way’, because while the anthology covers wide ground - non-fiction, fiction and poetry - it is uneven ground. What is interesting is that it doesn’t include just new writing in English - it includes translations from Indian languages, though these are fewer compared to the pieces written in English.
It is the non-fiction that made me feel let down - somehow, it feels as though many of the pieces were chosen for their content than for any literary merit. Bisakha Datta’s The Many Lives of Roma D is a nuanced and vivid portrait of a sex worker in Kolkata, while Aditya Sinha’s Natural Desires details with wit an uncomfortable father-son relationship that is unique in its particulars, but surely familiar as an idea to most Indians.
These were the exceptions. Pieces such as Krupakar and Senani’s Kidnapped, based on the authors’ kidnapping by the sandalwood smuggler Veerappan and Satnam’s Jangalnama, an account of time spent with the Naxalites felt dull, never quite moving beyond a literal account. Curiously, both these are translations, from Kannada and Punjabi respectively, so I wonder if this insipidness was a function of the writing or translation.
It is in the fiction that Penguin First Proof 5 really works. K.R. Meera’s Ave Maria, the first story in this section is the story of a despairing and dysfunctional Malayali family set against the backdrop of the Communist movement in the state in the 50s. After ploughing through the uninspiring non-fiction, it prepared me for what was to come. For, each one in this section is a short story worth reading - beautifully written and laying bare with a sharp scalpel a character or mood or moment.
Apart from Ave Maria, my favourites here were Batul Mukhtiar’s Your Room, a sad story of a sad relationship (written with so much grace and delicacy)Â and Aditya Sudarshan’s The Imaginary Friend, a story that anyone who has ever been exasperated with a child will relate to. (Aditya Sudarshan is one writer I would like to read more from, having enjoyed his debut novel, A Nice, Quiet Holiday as well).
As for the poetry, I’m going to reserve specific comments, because, although I did not enjoy it too much, I don’t trust myself as a poetry reader!
Publisher: Penguin India
Price: Rs. 250
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Thanks, Apu, for the review.
You’re welcome…much enjoyed it.