On hearing the word melancholia, I imagine—crooning of a musical instrument, the sound of the rain, evenings spent in solitude, sailing on the boat during sunset, reading a pensive book, having a conversation with a person who lends an open ear and objective mind, watching sky change its colour, gazing stars under the night sky. These moments are backed by humble feelings of the unknown, of ‘something out in the region that I understand’. They create memories and mental images in the mind. The book, Ishq ka Mata is that mood.
Have you come across texts that transport you to a different time, to a different place? Siting hundreds of kilometers away from home, while reading these stories, I found myself in company of people from different regions, in simple and familiar yet rich Hindi words and sounds. This is a collection of six short stories that culminates with the story named ‘Ishq Ka Mata’, sharing its name with the book.