The most ordinary to the most extraordinary situations turn unforgettable when they are penned into stories by writers across the world. Many such stories unfolded at Reliance TimeOut in the city recently, when two books were released, followed by dramatised readings.
The two volumes of short stories — The Curse of The Bird and other paranormal stories and The Shrinking Woman and other stories, showcased 68 short stories. ‘The Curse of the bird and other paranormal stories’, a volume of 30 mysterious and haunting stories, which guarantee to change the way one looks at ‘normal’ things. This tales in this book will make one think twice before doing everyday things, makes one understand the ‘paranormal’ that exists in everyone’s lives.
The Curse of The Bird and The Other Brother, stories in the book by Jaya Madhavan, could easily send a chill through one’s spine, as the pain of a wife who tries to figure out what happened to the mental stability of her husband; and the pain of a mother who loses her child through an unfortunate past are clearly depicted. The confusion, the emotional chaos and pain that the characters must have gone through sets in easily but deeply, and one is captivated throughout the book.
Commenting on her experience while writing the stories, Jaya says, “ I wrote The Curse of the bird based on true experience where actually a person started showing the traits of a bird and lost semblance of a human, which was painful to see and experience. The other story is a conflict of the born and the unborn.” The second book The Shrinking Woman and other stories, contains stories as varied as the backgrounds of the individual authors in the collection. Although there seems to be no particular theme or genre of stories, the common thread that seemed to be present was the ‘need of control’. One can easily understand this from the story The Shrinking woman where the woman in the train ‘adjusts’ in shape and size, according to her circumstances.
The story talks of ‘magic’, which is seen in everyday life.
The event included a book-reading session by literature students of Mount Carmel College, which was attempted with utmost care to throw emotions into the lines and create an eerie feeling, wherever required. Awards for the Annual Writing Contest 2008-09 were also given off at the event.