Book: Love Across a Broken Map
Authors: The Whole Kahani
Publisher: Dahlia Publishing
Price: £9.99
Review by Snehal Amembal
Love Across a Broken Map, produced by The Whole Kahani (a group of writers of South Asian origin) is a beautiful anthology of diverse short stories which fuse around the themes of love and loss.
For those unfamiliar with the term, Kahani means story. In the anthology, there are many refreshing stories which are not heavily cloaked in the garb of cultural symptoms and tropes, such as identity or immigration. That said, it does tackle the “dividing lines” of culture, race and ethnicity.
Instead, you are warmly greeted by the universal emotion of love in its various forms. The writers have done well to go beyond the notion of love as chancing upon a romantic partner. What the stories do is seek to showcase love in its many unusual forms, from existing lovers and past loves to love between parents and their children and for a city. Although primarily set in the UK, the stories also give us a glimpse into Mumbai, Goa and even Kuala Lipis, Malaysia.
In Entwined Destinies, by Shibani Lal, a beautiful bond is shared between a father and daughter while in To London, Mona Dash explores the love of a city and for old flames. Other notable stories include Dimmi Khan’s Rocky Romeo where the meaning of love itself is tested and in Naz, by Iman Qureshi, a pet dog facilitates a relationship between two discernibly different individuals.
Each story has well crafted characters who go beyond the role of merely entertaining the reader. Suman Bakshi, the protagonist of Soul Sisters by Reshma Ruia, is an example. You are drawn into the character’s world of obsessive admiration and love towards a celebrity writer. The story highlights the complexities of the human mind and its relationship with an over romanticised heart. The Nine-Headed Ravan by Radhika Kapur has the very strong yet vulnerable Matrika and her tryst at its heart, and makes you reflect on the idealistic expectations many of us have about love.
As for the writing, it is quality throughout. C.G. Menon’s Watermelon Seeds, which explores innocent childhood love, is rich with lyrical language and an effective use of imagery (“polished pewter sky”). It transports you to Malaysia where the story is based. Kavita A. Jindal’s Three Singers beautifully depicts how one seeks to attain love through shared interests and the whole tale is poignantly conveyed.
In We Are All Made of Stars, by Rohan Kar, the story grabs your attention and develops through the clever and engaging use of language that captivates to the end. But my favourite story is Farrah Yusuf’s By Hand. The last story featured in the anthology, it shows a father and son bond that comes to fore through a traditional, old fashioned medium of communication – letter writing. The story explores a very important kind of love; one that possibly led The Whole Kahani to come together and publish this anthology – the love of writing.
Reading Love Across a Broken Map is akin to soaking up a steaming cup of hot chai on a cold rainy day. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this anthology and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to someone less savvy about South Asian fiction.