A collection of 22 stories by Tamil authors across the world ranges from humour to rebellion. The collection begins with the short story Harmonium by award-winning author Ashokamitran. The story makes the reader realise why we don’t see beggars anymore and why there is wastage of leftover food. Despite the so-called development, the author makes you rethink if we really are a developing nation. The narrative style is subtle and makes you focus on the happenings around you.
Stories like The Saga of Butchery makes one think about religion. Though humorous, it also makes the reader wonder if Tamil culture is being sacrificed at the altar of Arab culture, though it has a fantasy element to it. It will make you laugh and wonder at the same time. The title is misleading but the narrative style is crisp, fast-paced, and almost like splashing water in the reader’s face but leaves you laughing in the end.
Other stories will shock and surprise you as they deal with gender as their main theme. Feminism doesn’t have to be loud and demanding. It can be quiet too. The stories ask questions on why the women cannot try to change the rules in their own way. Why is the woman blamed for everything that goes wrong but never gets recognised if something goes right?
The common thread in the anthology is the undaunting truth of the situation the protagonist faces and how they deal with it.
Sacrificial Stone was extremely moving and covers all aspects of a Tamil’s life—birth, duty, blame, betrayal, injustice, death, fear, and finally being forgiven. You can be of any class, caste, religion, race, or nationality, but Tamil as the mother tongue is the central identity to all the protagonists in the book. Each story is different, at times set in a different genre. That difference also makes you think. Some words or expressions have been left untranslated on purpose.
The book covers genres from mystery to contemporary fiction, from fantasy to plain fiction. Some stories make the reader understand how we are losing our traditional art and artists. There’s no single narrative style in the collection, but the stories will not bore you. Each of the stories question and challenges everything—from gossip affecting others to loneliness of elders, the reaction to people with mixed identities to politics of women’s empowerment in the Tamil society. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding Tamil people and for Tamils to understand themselves better.