New Delhi: A new collection of stories explores the thoughts and reactions of people caught in the upheaval of Partition.
Set against the backdrop of Partition, Dinesh Prasad's “East of Love West of Desire” is about love that sears and consumes, elevates and devastates.
These are stories of fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, men and women who come together, and yet are symbols of possibilities unexplored because the world around them is exploding, stripping them of their dignity and humanity.
The opening story “Kasturi” tells about bonds of love between a father and a daughter. After multiple refugee camps and travails, Jeeta's displacement becomes a quest for a better life for Kasturi.
He sets up a successful business making and selling soaps. And then he meets Rafat, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. However, Rafat has a motive, born of a tempest and camouflaged in sweet charm.
“Madhurangi” is a story of two women; one whose life is defined by metamorphoses till she finds stability in love and another going through the metamorphoses caused by the instability of love. Both break conventions and yet emerge winners.
Another story in the book “Beeran” is about Noor who is besotted with Beeran.
But then partition happened and Beeran's village is attacked and all is lost. The story describes how the lovers face the vagaries of violence and destruction and their struggle to protect their lives.
According to Prasad, “East of Love West of Desire”, published by India Research Press, is a mirror work of cultural variety and a kaleidoscope of alluring colourful characters through a derived sensibility of Partition.
“In this adventure of love and hate, the conquistadors that emerge are ordinary people, who moved from east to west and from west to east, people who had the formidable resilience to live, people who were passionate about life despite its vagaries, and people who found hope in the chaos of abomination,” he says.
