Book Review: Intimate Moments and Other Stories

Intimate Moments and Other Stories, a gem of a book, is a compilation of short stories by the famed author G.S. Balakrishnan.  It is a short story collection originally published in Tamil.  They have been translated into English and presented in this elegant volume.  I enjoyed the short story collection greatly and thought I would record a few takeaways.

A quick word on the presentation itself. The book is elegantly done. I like the quality of the binding, the cover picture and the not-hard, not-soft covers as well. I don't know if the version sold in India is different from the one shipped here in the U.S., but this one has a real nice feel to it. The quality and color of the paper inside, the type-face were also well chosen. I particularly liked the size of the font - made it easy to read. All in all the publisher should feel good about a high quality product in its presentation.

My overall impression of this collection is one of a pointillist painting (Seurat comes to mind), which consists of small distinct points of primary colors which taken together create the impression of a wide selection of secondary and immediate colors. In other words each short story was like a 'pointilla' - a primary color stroke that captured a slice of life. And when you stepped back from each story you get the sense of an entire vista. More on what the vista is, after I journey through my impression of the stories themselves.

My other impression was that the stories were short even by the standard of O'Henry (Gift of the Magi, Happy Prince come to mind). All the more impressive that in such short order Prof. Balakrishnan is able to establish character, plot, momentum, emotions, theme and context. The Sankrit shloka, the Hindi doha, the English couplet are example of being able to pack a ton of meaning into a terse expression. In fact, even more to the point a Sanksrit Sutra. Not to say that these stories are analogous to Dohas; but that brevity is seldom practiced and it takes geniune talent to execute well.

I'd like to take, as my dad likes to say, a 'sanchalanam' on the topic of brevity. Even in a business setting, people are diseased with an explosion of analysis and words. Most folks think the bigger the document, or bigger the binder the more impressive. Wrong. The most successful business discussions in my observation are based on 1-page of thinking or less. However, the work required to create that one-page of business recommendations is enormous; indeed more difficult than that undisciplined 'big binder'. I bring this up, only because business writing and business recommendations are my craft and I am relating my experience to Prof. Balakrishnan's story-writing craft.

My third impression from this collection is the range. It is astonishing. Bio-ethics, human foibles, renuciation, growting up, relationships, historical (Vasco da Gama) and so on. An amazing variety. A regular 'javali' to use a carnatic music expression.

My final impression is the language employed itself and style. I am a stickler for this and an unforgiving reader, by the way. I have lost all patience for sloppy writing. I will abandon a book now, rather than slog through it if I find the writer either sloppy or self-indlugent or not true to the context at hand. The language Prof. Balakrishnan has employed like the stories themselves, are also brief. There is an economy of words that is pleasing. He is able to evoke a place, a setting, an emotion, a twist with a few brief sketches which is a delight. I also like in some stories how he make a quantum jump in time (e.g. The Fire Ablution)

Now on to the stories themselves. The character that easily and immediately stands out in my mind is Mr. Smith in the Hanuman The Fourth. The gregariousness (and unstated imperiousness) of the character comes through clearly. That story played like a movie in my mind. In the pointillist scheme, that was definitely 'the color red'! The aspect that most appealed to me in this story was how a situation that stripped Mr. Smith of his manners/culture/upbringing (aka when Roger was mauled by Hanuman), his true propensity was on display. You could argue that it was a moment of weakness, a foible. But I think it was propensity rather than foible. i.e. Prof. Balakrishnan asked the question of this character, when pushed, what would Mr. Smith do?

Another sanchalanam, this time using Golf as an example. In golf, unlike in other sports, every (and I mean every) move and shot counts. Therefore, cocentrated in each shot is a combination of technical calculation, zen-like mental state and and split second execution, all under the high pressure of the handicap, a wager or a tournament. And this happens over a 4-5 hour period sometimes under perilious weather conditions, and sometimes over 4 days! Under these circumstances, there is no hiding your personality. You have to be who you are to play this game. Thus, in business, when someone takes you out for a game of golf, they are not taking you out just to play, but to get a 'read' on who you are. Under such circumstance, Mr. Smith would be unloading his pistol into every monkey, bird and reptile on the golf course!

The story that was closest to an O'Henry was the title story with that classic ending. It was a good one to get the book started.

I was intrigued when Mrs.Balakrishnan was mentioned in the introduction, so I read Full Circle with relish, and the symbolism of the bangle at the end was well done. The adopted vs natural born aspect raised some good questions in both the character of the mother and that of the observer who comments upon it. This is a raw subject, that Prof. Balakrishnan has treated delicately.

Prof. Balakrishnan needs to be felicitated just for his expositions on human foibles. Kaliman Kalgal is a true gem. The I-know-that-you-know, but-you-dont-know-that-I-know dynamic was very well laid out, and again in such short order.

The Vasco da Gama story was unexpected for its setting and was very enjoyable as well.

Similar to Mr. Smith being the most colorful character, the theme that was most resonant for me was in the Razed Walls. Prof. Balakrishnan only hints, and that too only subtly, his command of Vedanta. But truly, what I admire is his discipline as a writer (as was stated in the Foreward), is that he will never indulge in his knowledge. Vendanta here served the purpose of moving the story, but he did not use the story as a vehicle to expound his knowledge of the Vedanta. That alone earns my admiration. This theme resonated with me the most. Why does one renounce? What does one renounce? When does one renounce? These are profound questions. The character in this story Swaminathan is all too human. The irony at the end of this story packs geniune punch. Having admired Prof. Balakrishnan skill as a disciplined writer, what I feel like as a reader is the following. I would love to have had a conversation with Prof. Balakrishnan about Vedanta itself both in the context of this story and in general. I imagine a Barnes & Noble type author's reading session, where Prof. Balakrishnan would have read this story and I would have engaged in a Q&A.

A couple of stories that did not cut it for me. The resolution of the Fire Ablution was too much cause & effect. I would have hoped Prof. Balakrishnan in this story would have taken the route that Maugham took in the 'Ant & the Grasshopper'. Let the weak, feckless character come out on top (and thus vex the reader!).

The bio-ethics story of the Happy Pill given the date of publication was way ahead of its time. So we need to admire Prof. Balakrishnan prescience on this topic. However this story did not have the delicacy of the others. It felt more like a Brijesh Patel cover driver rather than a Gundappa Viswanath square-cut.

Prof. Balakrishnan sense of humor was on full display in The Relic. But again, very subtly he probes the meaning of art and its practice. In as much as the thrust of the story was the garish and the vulgar sells, he is making the subtle point that art will find its way to its audience - afterall Siva Rao gets to his readership (in spite of his explicit motivations to the contrary). A favorite passage of mine is from H.W. Longfellow's poem, 'The Day is Done', where he makes the case for simple entertainment rather than 'heavy tomes'.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

The father-daughter, father-son, husband-wife, wife-son, stranger-stranger (The Night of My Desire), friendship - all these relantionships are on full display here and well represented in this collection. Truly a writers avocation is observation first, writing next - and one can immediately see Prof. Balakrishnan power of observing the human condition.

Back to the overall book. What then is the vista of this pointillist work of literary art that the author has created and the editor has assembled? The canvas is India, with the occasional foray into the U.S (Phoenix, CA etc). The characters are Indian. However the themes are universal. What this vista captures is the human condition. But not human condition as it should be (for Prof. Balakrishnan is not a finger wagging castigator), rather a gentle, subtle and humorous reminder that the human condition is what it is and that in understanding it lies true wisdom.

Hence I think, his repeated visits exemplifying human foibles. Additionally, if it were just observing the human condition, then one does not need his stories. He could just say, go take walk on the streets and look around. Rather his purpose is also to entertain, make us laugh along the way. Thus in this collection the editor has not only pulled together a wide canvas showcasing Prof. Balakrishnan's talent, but has also created a tour de force from a master literary figure.

A word for the translator, Mr. G.B. Prabhat. I can only imagine as he toiled through the translation, pondering over the choice of words, a potential tempatation to rearrange a sentence here, reconfigure a sentence there - particularly tempted perhaps to insert a modern idiom (with the contemporary reader in mind). However he, in my estimation successfully sidestepped the trap and kept to the fidelity of the orginal (as best as I can tell from the tone and style of the writing). In home remodeling terms he has not 'renovated' Prof. Balakrishnan's work, but rather has 'restored' it to its original splendor. So my congratulations on the motivation, efforts and the results of the efforts.

It was a pleasure spending time with this book.