10 March,2023 10:08 AM IST | Mumbai | The Guide Team
Benyamin
In the first chapter of his short story collection, Malayali writer Benyamin writes about a protagonist who wakes up one day and realises he is Márquez. Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez. And that his so-far failed attempts at writing a novel will follow the same trajectory as the master novelist's. So, does Grechayan actually end up writing like Márquez? You will have to read the story to find out. But rooted in his keen observations of the nuances of human lives - so often, puppets at the hands of government policies, class and caste divides, religion, borders or just dumb luck - Benyamin captures realism, magically in the short story collection, Márquez, EMS, Gulam and Others.
Translated from Malayalam by Swarup BR, the stories make for a relishing read, relaying the essence of Benyamin's humour and sensitivity. We travel through his words, sometimes to US military camps in war-torn Baghdad, at times to the ancient ports of Kalyan, Sopara and Muziris with a Roman sailor, to bus rides from the parched fields of Solapur, and into a street of the indigenous Hmong people in America.
There is no grand theme to chase in the collection; these are the narratives of the aam admi from around the world. Having travelled and worked across the globe, the JCB Prize-winning author trains his wit on the obvious dichotomies of the human condition which we choose to look away from. He lets us dive right into the stories from the word go; we're right there, with the characters, leafing through the diary of The Postman and feeling the anxieties of Kunjumon, the driver careening through Nedumbassery. Not one to add flourishes, he seemingly keeps a distance from the story as a storyteller, till the end of the tales emerge, and his genius stays with you till long, long after.
