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Spicy tales: The Rupa Book of
Wicked Stories
The dictionary describes wickedness as something that is "morally bad and evil". In a more informal sense, it may also be used for a quality that is only slightly bad while at the same time being attractive and amusing, it adds. We all live in a carefully constructed world of self-deception and hypocrisy. It is a world where, by mutual consent, we ignore our own and each other’s weaknesses. Into this world sometimes intrudes something or someone determined to strip us of our double standards, poke fun at us and generally expose our carefully constructed defences. This too may be considered a wickedness of sorts, and it is probably this sense of the word that appealed to Ruskin Bond when he compiled the collection. Comprising renowned authors like Ambrose Bierce, Saki, Mark Twain and Bond himself, as well as some neglected by history like E.H.W. Meyerstein, Michael Joseph and Crosbie Garstin, it is a collection of fine literature — at times caustic, gently ironic at others, but always probing human nature, its frailty and the ridicule it can inspire. Whether it is satire, black humour or plain wickedness, the stories are entertaining. Saki’s Laura is an amusing story of reincarnation. Determined to go on heckling her loved ones even after death, Laura manages to predict her next two incarnations. The hilarious ramifications quite destroy our solemn view of death. Why Herbert Killed His Mother by Winifred Holtby is the story of the mother of a "prize baby" who refuses to accept the fact that her "cherubic angel" has grown into a shy, pimply teenager, who wants to have nothing to do with his "ideal" past. Considering teenagers and their extreme reactions to everything, it is not surprising that little Herbert grows up hating his doting parent. Then there is Bond’s Hanging at the Mango-Tope where a momentary dishonest thought prevents Sub-Inspector Guler Singh from saving an Inspector’s life. These are stories that deal with emotions and actions that might pass casual scrutiny, but are not entirely aboveboard. Helping Mummy by Norah C. James is a tragic tale of unknowing wickedness. Children are universally described as "little innocents", but anyone closely watching them at play will realise how cruel they can be, without even realising the consequences of their actions. Tommy and Ruth little realise that throwing their baby sister out of a ship’s porthole is not what their mother meant them to do when in a hassled moment she screamed at the infant, "If you don’t stop crying, I’ll put you through the porthole". The tragic outcome only emphasises the children’s innocence. The Cat Lovers is the tale of justice in the days when whipping, especially with the dreaded cat-o-nine-tails, was on its last legs. Two prisoners convicted for minor offences are sentenced to lashings by the "cat". The two judges who pass the verdict are fond of this form of punishment and do so just for pleasure. The revenge the convicts take is justice too. It is difficult to feel sorry for any of them. Wickedness can, after all, take many forms. What Ruskin Bond has compiled not only offers a large number of sharply drawn characters, but also has tales to suit the taste of readers of varied hues. The fascinating tales with fine narrative from writers determined to bring out the absurd in life add up to an immensely readable book. As H.W. Longfellow said, "The world loves a spice of wickedness". |
RUPA merits praise for persuading Ruskin Bond to
compile some of its recent collections — The Rupa Book of Great
Crime Stories, …Book of Scary Stories and … Laughter
Omnibus, all edited by Bond, to name a few. The latest in this
series is The Rupa Book of Wicked Stories, with an introduction
by him.
