On the Shelf

As she goes beachcombing for clues to her family history, she strikes up a number of relationships. With Priya, her mother’s brother, and his more eloquent friend Simon — they witnessed, Nirmala, her mother, hurtle towards self-annihilation, why are they so slow to tell all?

With Paul, an Australian writer staying at her hotel — is their evolving friendship strong enough for her to trust him with confessions about her confusion? And there are the beach people — they too bear scars from the terrorism years, but they are her own people, are they not? Can she truly expect them to give her a secure sense of belonging?

The goals Lokuge, who migrated from Sri Lanka to Australia in ’87, sets for her narrative are clear from the very beginning. But somehow she fails to scoop her characters and her plot into a coherent whole. She tells her story in a brittle, emotional prose. But the twists in that story disappoint.

RAIN RISING
By Nirupama Menon Rao
Rupa & Co
Price: Rs 195

The interplay between roots and ways of seeing animates Nirupama Rao’s work too. Rao is better known for her diplomatic accomplishments. She served, most memorably, as spokesperson of the Indian Foreign Office some years ago. But clearly, in her hectic bureaucratic schedule she has found time to pursue other interests, like classical music and poetry. This collection of poems reflects myriad interests: Moscow theatre, Northeastern legends, Samarkand myths, and much besides.

FLOWERS FACING THE SUN
By Ben B. Boothe
Unicorn Press, Price: $12

The New Age is well and truly upon us, and the flowering of ideas continues apace. This book explores ways and means of achieving true harmony, methods of realising “global generation”, of channelising positive energies.