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Moons Far Far Away – Review by Cibi
A bard entering a forest is stunned by the absence of something. She brings her nose close to flower, close to rotten matter yet it is absent. She tunes and sings. Somewhere underneath, something resonates and new buds starts rising all over. When the air getting laden strokes her, she breathes it in and moves on.
A priest passing by hearing the whispers of petals, approaches and is put in trance by the heavy air. In one flower, is the scent of rotten earth, in another the pristine nature, in one the ever burning sun, in another the distant cool moon and so forth. He then strings them all. On finishing, a deity arises. He offers her that garland.
Then a reader passes by and is puzzled by the floating garland. On nearing he is overwhelmed by the distinct smell of each flower, each one putting him in different state. On a blessed instant he smells them as whole and is enchanted by a faint new smell emanating within. Then he senses a benevolent cool gaze fall on him.
Review:
Breezy, balanced, beautiful and benevolent.
The episodic narrative memoir with naturalistic expression deeply influenced by folk tales and underlined by village aesthetics, brings out an indian authenticity never felt before.The meticulous and fluid translation successfully conveys it. The book slowly transforms us to a resident of Meenakshipuram village. We laugh at their mischief, are elated by their curiosity, bask in their appreciation of nature, feel helpless at their plight, are haunted by their gods and ghosts, marvel at their spirit, weep at their kindness and are engrossed by their folk tales. It is as if everything in the village – land, people, animal, deity, ghost, tales, nature has been turned to flowers and a bee has collected and stored their best nectar in the book. The taste of honey, shakes up the hive in us.