Sarah’s Son
Description:
Pages: 290
Year of Publication: 2010
Price: HB Rs 350, FB Rs 300
ISBN:
HB 81-8157-993-5 (8181579935)
FB 81-8157-994-2 (8181579942)
About the Author:
Juri Mazumdar Nair completed her post-graduation in Political Science and holds a degree in Law. She is a freelance writer and editor; her articles have appeared in several journals. She lives in Salem, Tamil Nadu.
Teaser:
“Rongsong House had commanding gates that gave it an air of forbidding unwelcome.
Two long intersecting pathways twisted between meticulous carpets of green.
They led to a spacious wood-planked verandah and vast wood-walled interiors.
Rongsong House had space for every feud and foible.
*****
Manik Nath was master of the Rongsong Tea Estate that was spread around undulating misty slopes overlooking the Brohmoputra River.
In his late fifties, Manik had the air of a man who walked fearlessly and spoke insouciantly.
His eyes were bright and intense. A near-scowl lined his features at all times – easy and hard.
*****
One winter morning, Manik walked with an air of tranquility. The intensity of his musings caused his fingers to tremble as they gripped on an elaborately-carved walking stick.
*****
Soon, I will turn around a grove.
I’ll hear the chop of that axe once more. It is Sarah’s son. These days I spy on him often.
This young man, very dark and lean – is my son. I listen for a moment to the thud of his axe as he gathers firewood.
I am a well-bred Assamese man and my son…no, he is Sarah’s son…I am repulsed by the idea of him, real though it is.
I think to myself – it is over twenty years now…”
Contents:
Sarah / 9
Disappointing Dolls / 27
Slithering Serpents / 36
Rice and Ritual / 47
Blighted Blessings / 61
Sad Silhouettes / 77
Cracked Cups / 94
Endemic Extremists / 112
False Fragrance / 135
Scathing Sunshine / 154
Broken-winged Bard / 172
Bickering Birds / 212
Ominous Owls / 238
Sarah’s Son / 273