Sometimes a story just does nothing for you. Sometimes it does so much that you cannot handle it. Tejaswini Apte-Rahm’s story “Sandalwood” falls in the latter category. An unnamed narrator, a lady is told by her husband that he is homosexual after 17 years of their marriage. They have two teenage kids. He has decided that she cannot live with them anymore and that his partner Chandan (Hindi for Sandalwood) is moving in with them. The children also want to live with their father. Thus begins the story. There are no spoilers. So don’t you worry.
Apte-Rahm’s writing is brilliant. It doesn’t cut corners. It says what it has to and is stark and clean – like a knife after being cleaned. I loved the narrator. I wish there was more from her perspective – sure it seemed enough, considering it is a short story but more could have been said. Inner lives and thoughts are well-handled by the author and I love that in a good story.
Of Books and Reading 