An Allegoric Kaleidoscope

Review by

Sredhanea Ramkrishnan

July 2019

Dangling Gandhi, a compilation of 12 short stories by Jayanthi Sankar, allegorically brings out the complexity of human emotions. The author, in her unique style, delves deep into an ocean of feelings, letting the reader surf or dive along.

Touching upon a range of subjects from natural disasters, Indian independence struggle to contemporary issues like gender fluidity, she tries to show glimpses of various eras of an entire century. The obvious evolutions in culture, familial bond, language, and lifestyle through this period stand out as much as the similarities.

Through her effective rhetoric, building a beautiful mental picture, she still provides ample space for the reader's perception and interpretation. Like a kaleidoscope, her stories never fail to show a new yet engaging angle every time one goes through them.

A subtle mystery creeps in, building up suspense in a few of her stories, giving the reader a taste of the author's versatile talent. As she talks about sensitive issues like societal pressure, poverty, racism, physical disability, and even feminism, they all casually brush our brains and paint a more humanistic vista.

The stories seem too painfully real for us to even consider the possibility of them to hold a thread of fiction. The author’s instinctive ability to notice the intricacies of various human emotions and rightly documenting them without even the slightest exaggeration seems to come in handy. Her ability to highlight the silver lining in every dark cloud only works to her advantage.

Some stories like Mobile Dictionary are long for a short story; with the certain unneeded extension of the story beyond.

Dangling Gandhi is a blend of spicy Indian, rich Malay and aromatic Chinese cultures in the flavourful Singaporean hotpot, waiting to be savoured by readers of every generation and ethnicity. The fusion depicts a multitude of sentiments like love, passion, loss, sorrow, patriotism that a reader can feast upon to satiate his moods and beliefs.

Title: Dangling Gandhi

Author: Jayanthi Sankar

Genre: Short fiction/short stories

Published by: Zero Degree Publishing

Year: 2019 / ISBN: 978-93-88860-03-12 

Pages:  154

Price: Rs.220