Jayanthi SankarDangling Gandhi

"Dangling Gandhi" is not a book on Politics but it is a collection of well framed Short Stories that bring out the simplicity of living style of People.The reason I picked this book is that I heard a lot of praises about "Punkah Wallah" and I was too curious to read that story.I read it first even though it wasn't the first story.And I am not at all disappointed with my expectations.The Other stories have a element of Suspense and they highlight the various Human Emotions.The characters in this stories might confuse the readers as we are not familiar with their names.The command over the language must be appreciated.The Book cover is designed keenly observing the theme of the book.Personally, at few point I felt the narration could have been a quite better since one might get confused ( Which dialogue is said by which particular character ).Did Churchill know had the element of horror glimse at it and I totally loved that story as well.However "Punkah Wallah" still rules my heart.The stories such as "My mother is a feminist" and "Am I a jar" are thought provokive.Overall it was a Good mature read.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost maybe, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing ground, we shall fight in the land and in the fields, we shall never surrender . ~ Winston ChurchillDangling Gandhi by Jayanthi Sankar is one such read which is a perfect amalgamation of culture, spiritual aspects, passion love, religion and history and most importantly fight for our own rights. It teaches us to keep our hopes high.These are placed in colonial period and are mostly based in Singapore and southern parts of IndiaThese stories run by the following appellations:1) Did Churchill Know ?2) Punkah Wallah3) Peacock feather fan4) Mobile dictionary5) The peasant girl6) Beyond borders7) The pavilion8) Dangling Gandhi9) Read Singapore!10) Mother11) My mother is a FEMINIST12) Am I a jar?Absurdity always stays blur in this world of constancy.Though am not a short story person, but I enjoyed reading these stories.Each story is raw, unique and heart warming at the same time and each appellation justifies the content or rather the happenings of our day to day.Getting such good stories from an indian author is not something usual and most importantly getting a content isn't a big touch but putting them across together to stitch a perfect story is where these short stories stands apart.Language is easy and narration is smooth and heart wrenching at the same time. I liked the cover and indeed narration style is unique and plot is different for each story. That's the reason why it's mentioned read a story a day, do that one could feel it and enjoy it's existence to the fullest.I personally liked author's choice of words and I must say it is not meant for beginners as it's vocabulary is rich and unique in its own way.Well, the book reminds me of Sisyphean Existence of Man and The Stranger by Albert Camus, wherein he appreciates the absurdity of life in a much eloquent yet gregarious way. You can expect the same from this book as well.

Dangling Gandhi is a book which has 12 short stories. This book is quite unique as each stories are different with personal account, emotions and meaning attached to them.The book cover would give you a hint of what the book contains. The cover has abstract faces of different people which very much suits the book, as it has different stories from various walks of life.You would have to read it slowly to grasp and fully enjoy the book. I found it quite different from what I regularly read. The narration is unique and has a rich vocabulary. However you wouldn't want to rush with this.The stories are mostly from the pre-independance era. You will read things which wouldn't be present at this time, give you a perspective of during those times what people did, think, eat, talk, culture, etc.Hence you will find each short stories has titles similar to the book title. Each story is completely different from one another. Leaves the reader impressed and pondering over many things the story had to say.I would recommend reading this book, one or two story a day to let the effects of each story take place, make your brain work and leave you feeling... (you can fill in the blanks)I would say it is synonym to the movie 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood'.

The book is a collection of 12 different and intriguing stories (short-stories), stories that will teleport the reader to the colonial era. The stories are of random choices; if one narrates the story of Munnar guide, other of a housemaid for a weird job, a Tamil Iyer who knows all the words in a dictionary access many more.A fascinating collection which makes the reader to taste the life and style of yesteryear. The beautify in this book is the author's style of scripting different characters for different stories, with a unique style. I've read many short stories all of them are in the present lingo but this one is different, as the stories are of old era the author has also used an old language - a English which was very new for Indians (or Asians, not all the stories are from India). It was fun to read.