Book Review : Rukhsat- The Departure by Sujit Banerjee

Book- Rukhsat- The Departure

Author- Sujit Banerjee

Editor- Cora Bhatia

Genre- Fiction (Short-Stories)

Publisher- Frog Books, Leadstart Publishing

Blurb-

26 short stories, each imparting something valuable. What can be someone’s darkest secret or wish? Who have hurt you the most? Whose movement in/out of your life made things harder?

Such daily life concepts, with some very different turns constitute this collection.

Title-

It happened for the first time that I judged the title after the cover. So whatever I feel about the aptness of the name is due to what I feel about the cover.

Cover-

Beautiful cover and very meaningful. Well, the fallen leaves depict everything which the blurb says. People coming and going, but life never stops moving. I was spell-bound totally. The effect of sketching and the black-white contrast worked well for me.

Note (For title and cover)- Now, how it is related to all the stories or the concept? I read the blurb of the book and then realized what the name is all about. Frankly speaking I couldn’t connect with it in the first encounter.

Characters-

That’s what the book is all about. There are 26 different characters, each having so much to say and do in life. They are in between chaos of different kind.

 

Reviews-

Very rarely it happens that you come across a book which has elements of all kind. And expecting that from a collection of short stories is a hard task. I took this book because I love short stories. Coming on the book, the concept is unique and so are the stories. I was about to handle every story personally but then I realized that darkness is a common factor in all of them.

When there is likeness, there is a chance of boredom but thanks to the author, I remained away from that zone. I loved the darkness which came in front with every story. The source of despair and dismay was different every time. Every story had something unusual to gift. Every story increased my assertiveness, it had that power. Every story has something beyond the usual norms to share with its reader.

A very intelligent approach is used. The story is told to you and not explained. You have your wild imaginations with you to deal with them. But that happens only in well constructive stories. Stories which were regular were easy to grasp indeed.

Stories like “Gustav” and “Eklavyya” were normal but affective. They can tell you the normal mistakes people tend to do. But time which is moved, never returns. Such small messages make the book handy and boastful.

I loved the story “Hemakshi”. It was a very searing story of continuous loss. What a woman desires and how her loss moves her to unimaginable levels. The story was a treat. This line in the story is worth remembering...

“The sky was an iridescent orange. All around otherwise was pitch dark, but not darker than her inside.”

I also liked the twists of story “Indu”.

Many stories had unrealistic and unexpected turns. It enhanced the story unmistakably. Many stories were intelligent, regular reading, with half attention can’t decode the real meaning for you. Some stories gave you grief in the start and smiles at the end. No story was below any other. They were all on the same ground, complimenting each other and also this book.

Turn-on’s-

The main turn on is the idea behind this book. It was unique and it flabbergasted me. Who can think that 26 letters can create such magic not just in penning the sentences but also in framing an idea for these stories? Well thought.

I really loved the fact that there was barren land everywhere on the cover. It clicked me (I don’t know if that was intentional or not). It seemed close to the story in one way or the other.

 

Recommendation-

Short story readers can pick this book without any hesitation. It has all the elements to entertain you, if you are ready to read it with proper care.

About the author-

Born to Bengali parents in Lucknow, Sujit grew up in Patna, where he finished his post-graduation in Psychology, from Patna University and ended up becoming a tour operator instead of a Psychologist. His work took him all over the globe and introduced him to the worlds of Mayans and Aztecs. He started getting interested in Shamanic ways, in healing and joined Pranic healing courses to become a certified healer. Today, he both heals as well as reads Tarot cards. He continues to work in tourism and lives in Delhi. This is his first work of fiction.

Connect with the author-

· Twitter handle- @sujitrukhsat