Stories full of palpable freshness and feminine ingenuity

Reviewed by Nanda P Wanasundera

Here is a collection of eleven short stories by Rukmini Attygalle, her first foray into having her creative writing published. She writes poetry too. The Bay Owl Press of Perera and Hussein Publishing House published her book in January 2021. Priced at Rs 850 it is out on sale at several bookshops.

Comments

Author Anthea Senaratna states on the arrestingly designed cover of Of Saris & Grapefruit that the book is “A compelling read!” On the back cover, writer and columnist Michael O’Leary comments: “This collection of stories displays many clear insights, much deep feeling and also an engaging sense of humour.” Leelananda de Silva says “These stories are engaging and vibrant.”

My perceptions

To me the most significant and endearing feature of Rukmini’s stories is that they make for delightful reading, because from them emerge palpable freshness and feminine ingenuity. To qualify further this opinion of mine: the freshness is obvious as this is Ruki’s maiden publication. Also the stories seem to be her very own: either biographical or a few imagined, uninhibited by rules to follow or features to avoid. It is frank writing, albeit fiction; mind plotted but heart unraveled.

The femininity of the writer too is obvious; stories deal with an embarrassing-to-a-woman situation; a mother’s protective love subsumed for the sake of granting a 10 year old daughter the daring feat of going shopping by herself in London. Tussle for Independence is the title of this story which I considered the best: the narration of a factual and charmingly ingénue incident. I also particularly liked the last story in the book: Shadows on the Wall with its tinge of pathos and personal grief. The plus here is that not a trace of sentimentality imbues the narration.

The first story in the collection – The Setting Sun – about the troubles of a fatherless boy with a struggling mother, who squashes his sensitivity and innate morality by agreeing to succumb to a pedophile to afford nourishment for his cancer ridden sister, highlights not only the plight of the unprivileged underdogs in society but Ruki’s sympathy toward them though she is of a privileged, very high social strata. This story in particular could have turned trite and mushily sentimental. But no. Ruki is sensitive and sincere in her mind and thus the story emerges from her writing wrist as stark and so true of the coastal regions of Sri Lanka during the height of tourism.

Included are two stories of a beggar who Ruki got to know on her frequent visits to the Kollupitiya market which bring out her feminine empathy and kindness. Andaré, about a woman meeting a person she had a schoolgirl crush on is humane with spots of fun and humour.

Brilliant Bougainvillea is a very well crafted story using an indirect method of narration. By this is meant, the narration is not linear but moves back in time often. It starts with the present – the predicament of a soldier who is losing his battle with a troubled consciousness until the satisfying end. The best here is that there are no heroics; the soldier is treated just as a soldier with human qualities like sensitivity, a soft heart often considered cowardice. Ruki manages to reveal the true nature of the injured soldier first through his visiting mother, the caring hospital Matron and then comes the denouement through the visit of his former commanding officer.

Dawn of Birth and Death successfully captures the milieu of threatened villages during the LTTE reign of terror without once mentioning the term – threatened village. She does not editorialise nor evoke the reader’s emotions. She has the narrative show up the stoicism of the endangered villager and the closeness of family ties.

All in all, the positives are: good English language with no extravagant use of it; narration is clever and the reader often left guessing until the end is revealed. Even then there is no author-pontification or explanation. The reader is often left to decide. This is fine as the reader is assumed to be discerning and intelligent. The out-of-date ‘sting in the tale’ genré is thankfully not Ruki’s type of storytelling. Writing is an expression of creativity and this fact is evident in the eleven short stories with well selected plots suitable for short stories, some being autobiographical incidents around which a story is build.

As Rukmini says in her Author’s Note, she writes about personal experiences and on incidents that impinged on her, mostly emotionally. Hence the stories emerge realistic.

A dictionary definition of a short story is: “an invented prose narrative shorter than a novel usually dealing with a few characters and aiming at unity of effect and often concentrating on the creation of mood rather than plot.”  This genre of creative writing is usually concerned with a single effect conveyed in only one, or a very few significant episodes. “The form encourages economy of setting, concise narrative, and the omission of a complex plot; character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounter but is seldom fully developed. Despite its relatively limited scope, a short story is often judged by its ability to provide a ‘complete’ or satisfying treatment of its characters and subject.”

Reading the stories in Rukmini Attygalle’s Of Saris & Grapefruit, readers will discern they share most of the characteristics mentioned above. The stories all have very few characters, often only two – the narrator and the protagonist – in the personal anecdotes. Descriptions are pared down to the minimum but the needed background or setting and ambience are adequately created. Yes, Rukmini does concentrate on creation of mood rather than on ingenious plots and their unraveling. One is satisfied with the stories and appreciates the intense emotions in some; the desperation of poverty and illness; triumph in most, and humour. They certainly are a mixed bag and that too is a plus point.

Rukmini has achieved success with this first published collection of short stories. By success I do not mean merely the sale of copies or number of reviews the publication draws. To me success equates to readers enjoying and appreciating her stories, mostly their quality of freshness as this is a collection of stories written because the author felt impelled to write her thoughts, feelings, opinions and to recapture a couple of memories. They are offered for wider reading after having been kept under wraps for long.