I first received this book in 2015 by mail as an eBook from Dr AV Koshy as a prize for writing a roseate sonnet as part of a competition. Even though I started reading the book then, I could not complete it for various reasons. This year when Dr Bakaya announced that the book would be published in print, I was excited. Maybe because I’m old fashioned and like to hold a real book. So when Amazon delivered it on my doorstep I started reading it with gusto. The book went with me everywhere. Whenever I could spare a moment, I read hungrily. It was my constant companion… and as I read I realised why the world needs more people like Dr Santosh Bakaya.
This book of essays published by Authorspress, New Delhi is a 354 pages eye opener. It is dedicated to the author’s daughter, Iha. The foreword is by the writer Lisa D. Ellis and the introduction is by the writer Joyce Yarrow. The book has 3 sections with 58 essays in all. The first section has 7 essays. The second has 4 essays and the third section has 36 essays.
The first section begins with a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem The Swing and takes the reader on a time machine back to the past into Dr Bakaya’s childhood. Poignant, deliciously simple memories that make the reader go back to one’s own past as the warmth of parental love and the carefree days of childhood innocence and mischief beckons and makes these essays a rare treat. One of my personal favourites is the essay The Canine Sponge in which the antics of Nipper, the puppy have been set out in such a humorous way that we love him as our own and end up crying at his tragic end at the hands of a heartless human. The essay on her granny is touchingly honest and endearing. Her memories of her growing years with her mischievous brother, bright sister, her stern but loving father are all a tribute of love to her childhood joys which she shares with the reader.
The second section with an introductory quote from AA Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner is one dedicated to friendship. The four essays in this section are memoirs of her friendship with Joyce Yarrow, Jean Mg Armitage, Dolly Murray and Diana Bird. In the first essay of the section, two days with Joyce in October 2011 at Jaipur and at Birder’s Inn, Bharatpur pass by in a twinkle. Days where the sights and sounds of India were recorded and analysed disarmingly by both the guest and hostess. Days of friendship and love that ended too quickly for both. In the essay, I’m a Good Cooker, Dr Bakaya’s observations of the life around her as she takes her friend, Jean sightseeing are humorous and clear.
“Just in front of the shops stood a bus with the words COLLAGE BUS written across it in bold letters.”
“The moving collage of interesting salesmen had us enthralled. Their salesmanship was at its best, their persuasive skills at their shrillest. But their clever salesmanship failed to hide the wonderful human beings lurking inside.”
“Next time when you come, you will have biriyani at my place; my wife is a wonderful cooker.” The Osama look-alike said, waving warmly to us.’
“We had talked of racism, war mongering, and death penalty, gun control in the USA, Barack Obama and expectations from his second term, intolerance and hatred in the youth, teenagers, gender sensitivity and love.”
Her encounter with her Canadian friend, Dolly Murray is narrated with wit and élan. “Over sips of tea we debated the international scenario, the travails of bringing up a daughter in a male dominated society, but still my loving daughter and the male with her were nowhere in sight.”
Dr Bakaya’s meeting with Diana and David Bird is set out in the essay ‘And The Birds Flew’.
“My daughter is a Facebook addict.” Said Diana, her eyes darting in the same direction.
“So am I”, I said sheepishly.
“But my son uses it sparingly.”
“Are you on Facebook too?”
“I am too old for Facebook.” She said with a smile.
“Age is just a state of mind,” I said, remembering my daughter’s constant refrain, “Why do you not grow up mom?”
“You know what, we are five siblings and my mother says that her heart beats in five different places.” I said while we talked about parenting and motherhood.
“Oh such a nice way of putting it, mothers are the same the world over.” She said with a smile.
The third and final section begins with a quote from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. This is the largest section containing forty seven essays on a wide range of topics. The first in the section titled ‘Deepawali is All about Money’ is an apt opening essay in which one can see the human nature of the author which she sets out candidly before us. Like any of us, she too spends money lavishly while at the same time feeling guilty for the less privileged she comes in contact with. She is the woman next door, like you and me, aware of the inequalities and injustices existing in our society. Like us she makes small gestures to pacify her conscience. What makes her special is that she won’t let that voice die down. As she places these thoughts on paper and preserves these for posterity she ensures that her reader too introspects and finds his/her own voice of conscience. In ‘Fear’, she narrates an episode where kindness wins over religious hatred. ‘Morning Blues’ are her observations on life during her walks. Humour is her weapon as she talks of corruption in the essays ‘The Power of the Baton’, ‘Handicraft Status’. Dr Bakaya’s keen wit and observations lace her essays and give them a refreshing appeal. ‘A Journey: A Home Coming, Nay, A Heart-Coming’, one of the finest pieces in the book, is a poignant and fresh write about her return to her native home in Kashmir. In the penultimate, title essay, ‘The Boy in Yellow Knickers’, as she shares her experiences at Accra, Ghana where she had gone to receive the Inspirational Poet Award jointly instituted by Pentasi B World Friendship Poetry and the Ghana Government. In this she asks, “If each of us made it a habit of saying, “I love you” to each other, won’t the world become a better place? This fleeting thought crept into my mind as we went inside the airport gates, I turned back to wave to my friends.” In the final essay, ‘Why I Wield the Pen’, Dr Santosh Bakaya speaks of her native land nestling in her heart and this Kashmiriyat is the reason for this beautiful book. Dr Santosh Bakaya’s book is an embodiment of this indigenous secularism of Kashmir which has its roots in the land and it is this oneness with all of creation that is seen throughout the book. That is why I repeat that the world needs more people like her and books like these.
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Reviews with images
Brilliant Narrative
Brilliant NarrativeI am not really good at reviewing a book, particularly a collection of essays since it's quite an arduous task: to read the passages, to soak in the meanings and then give your commentary on the author's style, on the word play, on the theme, on their societal relevance and on their literary value.But Santosh Bakaya's Flights from my Terrace are no flights of fantasy but an honest chronicle of her 'mad meanderings' as she says, somewhat about her autobiographical journey assisted by the winged chariot that facilitates her time travel and which brings the ordinary and mundane to life through her powerful and detailed narratives which transform into vivid realistic paintings of both the urban and rural landscapes of contemporary India. It's uncanny how the words become magical brush strokes to make every essay a powerful visual image.Her very first essay starts her autobiographical voyage and through flashbacks she recounts her childhood experiences so very elegantly one wonders if it's a prosaic recount or a poetic recall! She contrasts Booker Prize with FaceBooker Prize in a lighthearted manner and ends with a profound statement:'Years melt, days melt, time moves on- memories remain- and remain---'and then she smoothly makes way to the next titled 'The Melting Watch' in which a cloud surrealistically resembling one of Dali's creations triggers the avalanche of her memories. Her vivid descriptions of her sibling revellery/ rivalry and coining of words like Lilliputian Amazon and her swallowing of the Adam's apple in stead of the conventional one shows her mastery over the language and the fluidity of he thoughts.But let me stop here without revealing the other chapters. I would desist to comment on each essay or try even to evaluate her prowess as a writer, an essayist, or even a poetess. I am privy to some of her works in bits and pieces, thanks to the social media and each piece of her writing had left me in awe for I have not yet been able to give her any specific identity based on her proficiency on any particular type of creative work. All I can say is that she is gifted with tremendous perceptual power, and super power of expression to reach out to all kinds of readers. The spectrum of the topics she has chosen for this magnificent work is wide and the treatment she has given to each is rather deep under the guise of effortless narration, with the common autobiographical thread that strings them together.I would like the readers to go on their own explorative adventure through the pages of the book and experience for themselves the richness of the contents. I am sure that the multidimensional narratives adorned with exquisite expressions so adroitly presented by the author would keep you enthralled, charmed and captivated from beginning to the end.Flights from my Terracefeaturing The Boy in Yellow Knickers and other essays354 pagesPublished by AuthorspressAvailable on Amazon.inReviewed by Dilip Mohapatra
