Book Review of The riverside man & other short stories by Murthy KVVS

Rekha Sahay

The riverside man & other short stories by Writer and blogger Mr Murthy KVVS, is an interesting short story collection. The author have four books in credit in Telugu.

This book has an artistic cover of black and white pencil sketch by Sri Vadrevu Ch Veerabhadrudu, IAS.

It’s an engaging book of short stories on various topics. Most of the stories were probably born out of personal anecdotes. Its language is Lucid, rich and accessible.

The first story The guest obsessed- is a fun one with a message to respect every creature as they are sensitive too. Missing of an old woman addresses today’s burning and important issue of mental health and our heartbreaking apathy towards it. But still there are some who are doing great jobs of helping them, such as – sub collector Yogita Rana,

Rajnikanth is a kind of short autobiography of a school headmaster and his crazy student who loved to be known as Rajnikanth. This short story talks about the sensitive issue of new carved states in India and issues related with its border.

The burial ground and memories is about Dummugudem, a sleepy village or burial ground. where several British people were buried before independence of india. On the fateful Day is a mysterious story based on an incident. It’s mystery reminds undisclosed till the end of story.

Dantewada is a famous religious place in Chattisgarh. One story is in the back drop of these places and talks about the burning issues of tribal and non tribal issues and Salwa judum. A boulder in the stream is based on broken family and the child behaviour. Polling duty talks about our election systems. As all other festivals, elections is a big festival of our country. This story is about the election duty in a remote part of india.

There are some more beautiful stories in this collection, which you should explore and enjoy on your own.

It’s a versatile collection based on many important and pertinent issues and anxieties of the modern Indian life. If slice of life stories interest, excite and enrich you, then you must definitely read and share about this excellent and nuanced literary debut in the English language.

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