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Shikargaah
Gianprakash Vivek has chosen wide-ranging subjects and characters from the contemporary world, each exploring the private world that has undergone immense change under the pressure of the need to explore financial opportunities. At times it is reflected in passive alienation as in Arth, at others in the devious planning of Indoor Games but at all times one can feel an undercurrent of resentment against the shrivelling of the soul and eclipse of the values that have been the cornerstone of the moral edifice of life. In this genre, Kshama Karna Ma! is a virtual tour de force that is undertaken by most of us who are under the illusion that we have enough time for our dear ones. Not all stories, though, are obsessed with the darker shade of human life. The rejection of material values that supplant the moral fibre in Tamasha sends an unmistakable message that not all is lost yet. Similarly, Hamsafar is refreshingly assertive of the essential human goodness. At the other end of the spectrum are the stories Refugee Camp and Bandhua, which are not only defiant in their tenor but also display human ingenuity to survive against odds. In fact, Jabbar of Bandhua reminds one of the characters of Munshi Prem Chand, both in their depravity as well as their ability to bring out the irony of life. There is little doubt that the hallmark
of the author is his felicity with the modern idiom in portraying the
middle class. In that he makes a judicious mix of his craft and the
creativity of art.
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Diminishing human
values and the pain that is the result of the dilemma faced by the
characters in the stories is the dominant theme of the collection. In
conflict with themselves as they succumb to the demands of a society
driven by the forces of consumerism, they do not fail to recognise the
distance that they have travelled from the moorings of their essential
being. Be it the younger generation in the story Barf or the
protagonist of Shikargaah, the fact that the characters regret
the manner in which life has unfolded, gives hope that, perhaps, given
another chance these very characters might behave in a much more humane
manner.