India Post News Service
The stories in the collection 'The Red Dot' by Anand Rao Lingayat were originally written in Gujarati and have been translated into English for this edition. Some have been translated into different Indian languages and published in periodicals. The slim 154 page book is about 'values that migrants carry with them to a new land,' says author Lingayat.
"They often clash and /or compromise with those of the new land. In turn, the melding of these values hatches a new blend of philosophy forging a fresh literature." he says. The writing is wry, humored, affecting and given to much detail.
Distressing stories, painful situations and yet there is the thread of self realization, as challenges are met and decisions are made. Plots revolve around money, language, evil, and span decades and cultures.
India appears despairing in its poverty and violence, yet an anchor, America is often insane to the new immigrants, yet they realize firmly grounded, offering a new lease of life. It is a diverse group, a sprawl of characters you meet in the book.
A traditional Indian grandmother with an abused past, who strikes up an unusual connection with an American Caucasian, a little girl adopted from India now facing a trauma of separation, Suni, a wealthy ,woman gynecologist who returns to India and meets Mohan her childhood friend, Ambica, a single woman parent with personal tragedies, who tries to grasp at happiness in America .
And then there's Joya, the owner of a convenience store who is raped in a holdup, and Sheela, who is whispered about because she has "moved in with a white guy." Other characters appear, men who abuse (Sheela), men who surprisingly solve the puzzle of embracing new challenges (Secondhand Wife). Characters are always deeply engaging.
It is an emotionally draining landscape as the people in the book carve their own path and try to retain a balance between achievement and fulfillment. Sometimes I had the feeling that I and everyone I know populate the pages. That is the stirring intimacy of the book. We are fascinated and mystified by our strengths and weaknesses.
The stories are wide ranging and voices ring clear and true. Lingayat appears to be an impassioned writer and wishes to express the needs, ideologies, of immigrants, as his turbulent characters transplanted from India converse about divorce, lesbianism, loneliness, violence, illiteracy, racism, suppressed religious and social environments and look for faith and assurance.
At all times. Often times, you take a personal journey in the lives of the characters and you find yourself shrouded in their psychic pain. Author Lingayat is keenly observant of human intentions and frailties.
He mines the psyche of the immigrant whether it is the story of an abandoned young woman who is prey to her agonizing desires, a muted friendship between two unlikely strangers or an immigrant railing against the commercial Western civilization with their urge for instant gratification.
The book however needs some sharp editing. Some stories quickly establish momentum, others do not. Anand Rao Lingayat has also published in Gujarati, Kanku Kharya, Ne Suraj Ugyo and Thavaa Kall. He has also written non fiction books on education.
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