Parthasarathy Rengaswami

The Journey Parthasarathy Rengaswami

'A peep into life through a set of five stories, a play and four short stories' could be a precise description of this book. The play 'Journey' depicts the life's journey using the platform of a bus journey. You will see an amazing microcosm of the world in the bus, with the passengers resembling, if not representing various characters we encounter in our real life. Among the short stories, 'The Rat' is a realistic depiction of the travails of a labourer at every stage from getting work, executing the work and getting paid or not paid for it. Does he envy the rat he comes across towards what he believes to be the last phase of his travail? The second short story 'The letter that came by post' facilitates your getting a peep into the mental prism of an educated middle class woman hailing from a village who lives in the world of letters even while outwardly living in the real world. If you are nostalgic about the bygone era of the postal mail, then you will find this story touching your heart. The third short story 'The Tree on the River Bank' traces the sudden fall of a wealthy and respected family of a village and where it leaves the last surviving member of this family. The fourth story is a poignant narrative of the injustice done to an upright and patriotic person, depicting how he channelizes the bitterness experienced by him into course that is as unexpected as it is amazing. All the five stories reflect different aspects of life as seen and experienced by people of divergent backgrounds ranging from an ingenuous traveler to a talented scientist through an exploited labourer, a simple village girl and a person facing a transition from abundance to penury.