Written by Shikhandin
ISBN: 978-93-92494-49-9 (Paperback)
Price: Rs. 299
Published by Red River (2024)
Language: English
-Sutanuka Ghosh Roy
Shikhandin is the pen name of an Indian writer. She writes fiction and poetry for both children and adults. The Woman on the Red Oxide Floor is the latest addition to her kitty. The novel truly reiterates Helen Frankenthaler’s thoughts, “There are no rules. That is how art is born”. “In her novel, The Woman on the Red Oxide Floor, Shikhandin both challenges and surprises the readers, moving from the narration of the most mundane events to something way beyond. The mother-child theme however remains paramount, with an almost perfect rendition of an infant’s life and thoughts. In the end, all the dots are connected and a new picture emerges” writes Shashi Deshpande.
The title of the novel is intriguing and interesting. Red oxide flooring continues to grace hundreds of Indian homes with its warm embrace and symbolizes sustainability, resilience, and the persistent beauty of a flooring choice that transcends generations. The red oxide floor –the space is a character in the novel. The woman on the red oxide floor is a vessel to portray female desire and tribulations. Shikhandin perfectly encapsulates not only the closely observant nature of her realist oeuvre but also her fascination for capturing the pulsating moments of life and death using several dark shades of the same colour. Her insightful portrayal of women— beauty in their gusto for life—and the influence of the mundane on their day-to-day lives is evident as well. Lyricism, devotion, and sensuality, synonymous with the feminine and the divine, are the leitmotifs running through the novel. “Stranded in this strange afternoon, which grips her in the stranglehold of incomprehensible alarm, the woman hears and sees the story unfurl. The voice fades. She begins to see the march of characters and events in the story from behind her closed eyes. Much of it is part of a familiar story, one that she had forgotten”. The recurrent theme of the relationship between the mother and the child in vividly painted images adds depth and tonality to The Woman on the Red Oxide Floor.
The story of ‘Baby Blue’ seen inside and out along with his Baba and Mamma emphasizes how the exploration of both form and humanist ideals fuel creativity in the age of modernism. The novelist writes about the ordinary daily chores of “Mamma”, and her struggles to handle a newborn baby, fascinated by the changes that the claws of time have wrought on her face. Everything familiar decomposes and disintegrates with time and the constant conflict between the real and the unreal unsettles her: “Mamma’s wants must be minimal, because that is the only way a real woman can be happy. Is she real, the woman ponders? Was I real? That me who used to be so unlike the me today. Then again, what does it meant to be real?” A fresh departure from the conventional form of the novel, The Woman on the Red Oxide Floor exudes Shikhandin’s deeper understanding of the woman’s body and its relationship with form. “Oscillating between the concrete and the abstract, live shadows and people, Shikhandin’s evocative novella, The Woman on the Red Oxide Floor traverses through the inner and outer scapes of consciousness of the protagonists, the mother as well as the infant. The expansive range and canvas for action is touchingly experiential, inviting the reader to grapple with the intriguing folds of life and death” writes Sukrita Paul Kumar. Shikhandin brings a fresh perspective to the genre of novel writing. She incorporates ‘orality’ in her narrative technique which surprises her readers. Her craft cannot be bracketed under one theme, but almost every canvas shows signs of angst. There is no dearth of details in Shikhandin’s folds of the woman’s psyche.
“The night has grown thick outside her window. The woman is getting ready for bed when she hears the word petni. She starts. Her eyes involuntarily look at the dark sky outside. She feels the world hurtling towards her with ghoulish mirth. ‘Petni’ hits her ears like a vial of poison, infecting her from within. She rushes to the mirror to see her face. Tears well up and leak her stricken eyes. She clamps her hand over her mouth to stop the wracking sobs that threaten to erupt”. Shikhandin captures the woman’s eerie ability to communicate the fear and dread of these turbulent times. This unsettling realism stems from deeply personal traumas and a first-hand experience of human suffering. It is tempered by the poignance and poetry of being a woman. Disturbing yet riveting, these images are a powerful comment on the psyche of a woman who transcends the banality. The feminine aura is ubiquitous to the novelist’s culturescape. Shikhandin dissents from the conventional norms of society and her characters are real and relatable. Her craft has a strong message and her lines carry the conviction and confidence of one who knows her mind. “She comprehends. She understands. She now knows. This world is nothing but a dream populated by dreamers”.
About the Reviewer:
Dr. Sutanuka Ghosh Roy is an Associate Professor of English at Tarakeswar Degree College, The University of Burdwan. She has published widely and presented papers at National and International Seminars. She has contributed research articles and papers to anthologies, and national and international journals of repute like Text, Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, Australia, Kervan International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies, University of Turin, Italy, Fiar, University of Bielefeld, Germany, Muse India, Setu, Lapiz Lazuli, The Times of India, The Statesman, Life and Legends, Kitaab, etc. Her poems have been anthologized and published in Setu, Piker Press, Harbinger Asylum, Teesta Journal, etc. The titles of her books are Critical Inquiry: Text, Context, and Perspectives, Commentaries: Elucidating Poetry, Rassundari Dasi’s Amar Jiban: A Comprehensive Study, Ashprishya (translated into Bengali, a novel by Sharan Kumar Limbale,). “Opera” is her debutant collection of poetry. She is also a reviewer, poet, and critic.
Comentários