Be it the plight of a Muslim who struggles to extend his visa in the United States in the aftermath of 9/11 terror attacks or drought-ravaged villagers in Bihar-the power of simple story-telling has proved much more effective than rims of writings by political commentators or social historians of tectonic social changes.
This juxtaposition came out in a telling manner when the English translation (published by Palimpsest) "A Guest for Atundhathi and Other Stories" of eminent Malayalam writer Sethu's collection of short stories was launched on the penultimate day of the World Book Fair here on Saturday evening.
The book was launched by veteran journalist and author Harish Khare who told the audience that his only contact with literature was that he is the son-in-law of a noted author (a name he did not mention) and that he himself was not a student of literature.
Khare believes "a writer has a distinct advantage over the political commentator or historian because of his grand sweep of events and deep interpretation of the forces of change with the use of imagination."
At times, the writer's understanding of the social processes is more accurate and penetrating, said Khare and in this context mentioned 'The Onam Market', one of the short stories in the collection.
The story, according to him, gives a gripping account of the unrelenting profit motive of the business houses and the toll it takes on individuals' lives.
Fiction, according to Khare, could reflect the consequences of cataclysmic events more absorbingly than history or social science.
