By Ambai. Translated from the original Tamil by Gita Subramanian

Subverting reader-expectations of hard-core detective fiction, Sudha Gupta compromises on sheer objectivity to come across as a compassionate, socially responsible person. The titular story of the collection is framed by two schemes of domesticity—Sudha, Naren and their daughter Aruna, including their household helps share a relationship of camaraderie and stability, while Naren’s researcher friend Kishen, Madhavi and two school-going daughters inhabit a home inscribed by fear, trauma and suspicion. Though the story guides us through the unravelling of a heinous crime,


Editorial

It, therefore, gave me particular pleasure to be able to edit this volume of remarkable Indian short fiction for Aleph. We don’t make any claims to the book being a comprehensive representation of all the great short fiction published in this country. Rather, what I have tried to do is present a wide selection of stories I have read and admired. As with all anthologies, there are stories that we have been unable to include as we were unable to track down copyright holders.


Reviewed by: By AJ Thomas
By Uddipana Goswami

The cyclical and dehumanizing nature of violence is a central theme in the collection. Structural violence refers to the ways in which social structures harm or disadvantage individuals by preventing them from meeting basic needs. In ‘Sin and Retribution’, Goswami revisits the 1983 Nellie massacre from the perspective of a perpetrator, unravelling the layers of dehumanization that lead individuals to commit acts of extreme brutality. The story critiques the inherent futility and moral erosion of communal violence, emphasizing how both victims and perpetrators are trapped within the structures of hate and fear perpetuated by historical injustices and political opportunism.


Reviewed by: Parvin Sultana
By Sudeep Chakravarti

Chakravarti extends the narrative of Fallen City up to the tumultuous time of the 1980s—the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the victory of Indira Gandhi, the anarchic behaviour of Sanjay Gandhi, the ‘unquestioned heir apparent to India-is-Indira-Indira-is-India’, the death of Sanjay Gandhi, Operation Blue Star (entry of the army into the Golden Temple at the orders of Indira Gandhi) and the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Fallen City ends with the subsequent anti-Sikh riots of 1984.


Reviewed by: Payal Nagpal
By Margrit Pernau

When Jamia Millia Islamia, under its visionary Vice Chancellor Mushirul Hasan, decided to name its newly built daycare facility after Gerda Philipsborn, this German-Jewish woman was resurrected from anonymity for Jamia’s younger generations. Slowly, fragments of her life began to appear in articles and discussions and then, Margrit Pernau decided to do a full-fledged biography of this spectral figure. Considering a general apathy for institutional histories and even greater disregard for the role women played in them, this was a remarkable move.


Reviewed by: Nishat Zaidi
By Nandan Dasgupta

The core consists of the Introduction (pp. 1-47) and seven chapters with sub-sections and Notes (pp. 48-317). ‘My narrative explodes some myths and questions many perceptions, including an explanation of how he became a spendthrift. To understand Michael, there is a mass of misinformation to cut through…’, says Dasgupta (p. 40).


Reviewed by: Dipavali Sen