HYDERABAD: There are times in life when we feel like we’re freaks in a world full of conforming bunches of people. As we undermine our own abilities and take ourselves to task for being different, we forget that it is these very differences that make us unique. That it is okay for us to be so. That we need to embrace ourselves. But all we want in these times is to feel that connect with someone, for someone to understand us as we are rather than what they want us to be. And ‘Circus Folk & Village Freaks’ is a collection of interlinked short stories that hammers away at your heart.
Written by Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal, ‘Circus Folk & Village Freaks’ is a collection of 18 ‘twisted tales’ that will leave you breathless because of how beautiful the writing style is. Each of these absurd stories is written in the form of rhyming couplets and have an underlying thread that connects the entire lot. And each of these are an ode to pure, unadulterated, honest storytelling via poetry, combined with life lessons that every one of these stories has to offer you.
Each story in this collection talks about one ‘village freak’ who struggles to fit in with society and what they do to make their life easier. These stories talk about how their lives turned out at the end of it all. While some end up finding acceptance by working in the circus – a place where social ‘freaks’ are welcomed, and some end up living a different lifestyle, each appropriate for what they want to do.
The biggest pro of this book is that every story packs a mighty punch that you’ll never see coming. From the first story, The Strange Case of Subramaniam, The Crocodile Man, in which a man who wrestled with a crocodile ends up showing traits of one, to the very last story, The Circus Master, the story of the guy who runs the circus in question, every story has its own lessons in morality and a brand of wonderful storytelling.
In their own ways, these stories have their foundations steeped in reality, while exposing the vile nature of invasive society, yet giving us a hopeful glimpse of what could be. You can learn about so many emotions and traits: selfishness, love, companionship, obscurity, joy, debilitating sorrow, self-love and so much more. Some of these stories are uplifting, some grim, some heartbreaking, and some a combination of all three. And when all these come together and show you that the people of these stories are of one world, they paint the realistic picture of a world with different personalities, each living with their own angels and demons.
The only thing that pricks is that in a few places, the rhymes seemed off or forced. But since it cannot be properly pinpointed where it actually did, it is safe to say that they have little or no effect on how you will see the book in the end.Recommend this book to anyone and everyone who loves any kind of stories. Must read!
Available on Amazon.in
Publisher: Vishwakarma Publications
Price: `399