Edgar Allan Poe, the famous American short story writer and poet had once said ~ A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.
The short stories in ‘Roads with no Routes’ written by author Meenamani fulfills this criterion. The book has 20 stories. And every story deals with a particular subject and evokes a particular emotion.
In many stories, the author has used juxtaposition to show the varied ways of lives.
First of all, I loved the dedication page of the book. It says that the collection of short stories is dedicated to all those who show keen interest in accelerating their lives forward.
The first story ‘The Lovable Souls’ begins with beautiful nature imagery. This story sounds like a parable with a beautiful message ingrained in it that everything happens for a good reason. We just do not know the mysterious ways the Universe/God works.
The second story ‘Radha’ delves on the love and devotion between Radha and Krishna but ends with a realistic twist. An interesting juxtaposition between fantasy and reality!
As the stories in the collection progress, the author takes a more realistic stance. ‘Death of the Butterfly’ is a satiric take on humanity’s concern of taking care of Nature.
‘The Birthday Party’ is a heart wrenching story that shows the rich-poor divide (both literal and metaphorical). Some people might be rich with money but have a very poor heart. The same theme can be seen in the story ‘The Toy’s House’ although the tone in this story is way more ironic.
‘The Path of Wisdom’ is a heartwarming story narrated by a grandmother to her granddaughter about resilience and constancy in love.
In the stories ‘Venomous Virtue’ and ‘The Speaking Parrot’, the author has employed juxtaposition cleverly. They are satires on human beings that behave like animals, whereas animals seem to have more humanity.
The author has also talked about social evils like child labor in the story ‘Mining Mica’ and the dangers that women have to face when they are outside home at night in the story ‘Terrifying Tears’.
The collection ends with the hilarious story ‘The Professor’s Monkey’ which will make readers laugh like crazy.
The ability of the author to use juxtaposition so effortlessly in her narration makes her a great storyteller. Moreover, her use of biting irony and stark realism to show the picture of the present day society will definitely win your heart.
‘Roads with no routes’ by Meenamani was a great read. I will highly recommend it to people who enjoy reading witty, cleverly written short stories.
You can grab a copy of the book at https://www.amazon.in/Roads-no-Routes-Meenamani/dp/B09NLWMSZ2/
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