There are stories.
And then you have stories within stories.
Deeper you go these stories start revealing a lot about the world, and
Ultimately lead you to stunning discoveries.
The life we lead is built around people we know, and their stories. Stories of struggle, pride, achievement, disappointment build a narrative we bath in, find our individual purpose. Each generation wakes up with its own cause and stories but often forgets to understand the roots of the story lies in the generation before.
We can’t also know it all, but effort to know makes a lot of difference. When we talk about the “ empathic world “, that is very difficult to build unless we know as many possible such stories of our own country.
What can a single book do?
A single book written about unnamed doctor struggling to come out of his conservative Indian father, the short story flayed into multiple layers unfolding apartheid, politics, corruption, and family greed.
A typical life situation, narrator, starts with his own problem, which is the centre of his universe, pulling him down the dark path. The moment he spheres out and tries to go down the road with the world around, he realises the actual-world problems outweigh it all.
Though randomly but for me, this one book put a lot happening around into a perspective. The narrator’s failed suicide attempt over a failed relationship leads to beautiful discovery to his father’s garden and story leading to it is a revelation to about life in Rural Bihar. There are parts of India that the rest of India is happily ignorant and unconcerned about while raging over the world crisis. Another excellent example of selective narratives we all keep falling for now and again.
No Indian who spoke loudly on “black lives matters” stood up on “Adivasi Lives Matters”. No, I am not raged over this as we all live in our own selective narratives built around our selective awareness of the world. To stand up better, we need to know better, and to know better, we need to read better.
Happy Reading !