Book Review - Fables from India

 

Fables from India by Uday Mane has 23 short stories which revolve around Indian characters and its villages and towns and hence the "from India" part. The book opens with 'What Do I Seek?' which is a poem. May be the authors love for poetry has been given place. The first Tale, "Prince of Aramadia"sets the mood for rest of the stories. It is very Indian, with theme of sacrifice, divine intervention, bringing back to life (wife of the protagonist in the story) and is highly predictable.

Almost all the stories lack the element of surprise, the twist of tale that marks a good short story (without having to be O Henrysque; okay I just made that word). To be fair to the author stories like "Secret Keeper's Secret" do intrigue the reader for quite some time but their number is miniscule and the consistency is lacking.

There is inconsistency (though it does not matter much) in the length of stories. From six pages long to two page long, they do not hold the attention of the reader well. And then there are some stories like the last one in the book (Langu's Calling) which begin well but do not reach the pinnacle and become dampeners.
Perhaps the book is targeted at kids who can derive some moral lessons (there are quite a few of them) and hold on to very short stories well. The book does not work for adults.