Review: The Keeper of Desolation by Chandan Pandey
Touching on everyone from Malthus to Muktibodh, this is a collection of nine short stories by a prolific writer, who is an important voice in contemporary Hindi literature
Chandan Pandey’s The Keeper of Desolation, a collection of nine short stories, translated from the original Hindi by Sayari Debnath, is poignant and tender. A prolific writer, who has published two novels and four short story collections, Pandey is an important voice in contemporary Hindi literature.
Short stories are difficult to write. Unlike novels, a short story is mostly about a single mood, and some details remain unexplored – about which the reader may complain. The spectre of pretentiousness and monotony chases the writer of short fiction. Perhaps this is why Hindi publishers, especially, are wary of short story collections. Despite this, and perhaps also because the novel needs a protracted bout of intense stamina, more authors are writing short stories..
Forgetting, the first story in this collection, sets the mood of desolation that follows in almost all the others. The protagonist, Gulshan, the youngest member of a family, is slowly being forgotten. His elder brother is dealing with their sister’s chronic illness and the deteriorating financial health of the family. Buried in books, Gulshan, who also finds himself entangled in terrorism, becomes non-existent within the family. The surreal yet believable universe of the story seems straight out of Chekhov.
Other stories like The Poet and Wound are set in the corporate world, which is somewhat unusual within Hindi writing. The author’s understanding of corporate offices – the professional jealousy, the burden of hiding one’s true identity to survive without having to confront avoidable discomfort, the unease of an artist caught in such an environment, the absurdity of it all – is nuanced and quite frankly, brilliant.
Pandey expects his readers to be serious and erudite. References to the Malthusian theory of population, European literary figures, Tulsidas and the Hindi poet Muktibodh all appear in his short fiction. Such writers tread difficult terrain as they challenge the critical eye of the reader and often attract disparaging remarks about their work. Everyone views the world from their own point of view. A writer, who offers a perspective with a socio-political subtext must be prepared for all kinds of responses.
Pandey’s writing brings to mind the work of Amitava Kumar. Indeed, it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that the two are friends. Both draw inspiration from India’s reality in the most direct way possible. In Vaidhanik Galp, a novella by Pandey, a character named Amit Malviya is BJP’s IT cell chief. Such characters exist in Kumar’s world too. His A Time Outside This Time, told through Satya, an author, has sketches of characters found in “real” life. He too includes names, places, news, all of which isn’t just an “info dump”. Readers are expected to be aware about it all.
Among writers of fiction who tackle our current socio-political reality, Khalid Jawed, author of the JCB prize-winning Nemat Khana (The Paradise of Food), has raised the bar really high. Here, reality exists as part of the story, which, along with character, remains primary. Occasionally, Pandey’s writing too has this feature. The Land Was Ours does not require the reader to engage in any intellectual exercise and there are hardly any references that need to be decoded. But this is not the case with all of his stories.
Pandey’s prose is refined and witty but some stories like The Junction, which reads very well in Hindi, appear somewhat sketchy in English. However, this is an infrequent occurrence. Pandey deserves to be translated well and The Keeper of Desolation is a fine effort in this direction. Hopefully, more of his work will be translated so more readers can have the pleasure of immersing themselves in the Hindi literary milieu, in English.
Mayank Jain Parichha is an independent bilingual journalist. He writes about the environment, wildlife, culture, literature, and politics.