Jerry Pinto’s crisp and meaty introduction opens The Diamond-Encrusted Rat Trap: Writings from Bombay. ‘The 1970s were Bombay’s 1960s,’ he recalls Imtiaz Dharker’s words. The book gathers Jussawalla’s prose from 20 years, beginning 1980. There are articles, reviews,
The portrayal of Shivaji himself is layered and complex. Unlike in nationalist hagiography, Shivaji here is charismatic yet humanly vulnerable, ruthless to his enemies yet calculating, aware of legitimacy even as he embraces brutality when necessary. The novel situates him in a dense web of shifting alliances—with Bijapur, the Mughals, local chieftains, and coastal powers—thereby emphasizing that sovereignty is relational,
Does each of us human beings experience an identity crisis? Perhaps not to a cataclysmic degree where it could become existential. However, at some point in all our lives, we do, hopefully, seek to know ourselves better. And what truly constitutes this ‘me’ that we seek deeper understanding of?
These stories explore a range of themes, including forced relocations, destabilized social relations, caste-related violence, harsh political realities, and larger identity questions. They are all deeply rooted in cultures and belief systems that have been lost, redefined, defied, and reclaimed. The protagonist, who narrates most of these eleven stories, revisits his village, his childhood, and his people from a different perspective, in the light of not only his personal experiences but also the general, larger, and global changes that have influenced even the minutest details of everyday life.
Issues of migration are addressed in Nakul Mallik’s ‘Illegal Immigrant’. The formation of Bangladesh spurred the movement of Madhab’s family from a nation in formation to India and back. Extreme poverty once again pushes the family to migrate to India. Madhab settles down with Shefali but is picked up as an illegal immigrant and sent back to Bangladesh, a pregnant Shefali is left alone to fend for herself.
The story ‘Madhu’ touches upon a theme we all like to believe to be a thing of the past, untouchability. As much as all of us would like to believe that we have moved past this inhumane concept, reality hits us in the face with a woman and her cup that no one else touches.