These Tounges that Grow Roots – Sucharita Dutta Asane

Description

These Tongues that Grow Roots is a collection of 15 short stories by Sucharita Dutta-Asane.

The stories in this collection are disparate, but as stories do, they trace different trajectories of human experience and emotion, both individual and collective, through times of socio-cultural, political and of course, personal turmoil and upheaval. This could be loneliness or fear brought about by the pandemic or by political shenanigans; fear induced by those who believe in lynching; living through the horror of partition; or dealing with the fear of losing one’s memory or having it replaced by another’s. It could be anxiety induced by climate change or by the need to be able to tell the stories that matter. These are terse stories with sharp edges, spearing balloons of somnolence and status-quoist convictions. They grapple with calamities and loss, the heartbreaks of historical events and political turmoil, ultimately celebrating both the natural and human spirits’ resiliency as well as the short story’s immense and contained power. They trace different situations and arcs, but have the tenuous connection of individuals confronting fear and climbing over to the other side.