Blue is Like Blue - Vinod Kumar Shukla (translated from the Hindi by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Sara Rai)

 One forward from a friend about someone who reviewed Shukla ji's work and then for some reason many more stories started coming in. A documentary on his life. The award winning Hindi writer, poet and novelist caught my eye. He had impacted many as could be seen from the tributes that flowed. Shukla ji passed away in December.

So I searched for his books and did not have the courage to attempt to read his Hindi novels so I ordered translations. 'Blue is like Blue' came first, short stories translated by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Sara Bai. The themes are of the 60s but very relatable even now of course. About money to be sent home that's missing which makes the son apologetic to the extent that he plans to go hungry to make up for that twenty rupees. A man who thinks he has forgotten to lock the door to his room and goes back to check only to find that he had - the difference of how he feels about the lock when there's money in the room and when there is not. A tenant who wants squirrels to come into his room from the tree next to his window but cannot explain that to his landlord and ends up leaving. A man telling his friend perhaps out of jealousy to inflict pain on his wife who has a tattoo on her arm by using a knife or putting acid on it (this one was different from his other gentle stuff). A weird gathering of people discussing a road, a man and his shoes that pinch him. An old veranda that had always been part of his house which seemed to have come from their old house. And life at college for a young man who is not sure he will get a job, but his father wants to marry him off.

Definitely a pace that slows you down. The stories take you into the thoughts or spaces where we semi notice things, feelings, people, even colours. Shukla ji sees those spaces and its a bit like Murakami, only more real and relatable. Many times he does not use names for his characters, most of whom are very normal people even for the 60s - cycle riding, single room tenants, few clothes, living away from families, money issues and stuff like that. But the world is very real and relatable and so are the characters and their motives and fears.  Enjoyed reading.