Contemporary love is a maze of puzzles. Life isn’t as simple as the boy-meets-girl – girl-meets-boy scenarios of the past. Today, adjectives before girls and boys have made life complicated or maybe, with the spread of liberalism, made life easy. But all in all, emotions have definitely become more complex. While browsing through the Juggernaut App for some short stories, I stumbled upon this collection of shorts by Debeshi Gooptu. Each of her short stories explores a different angle of love. From college sweethearts to office romance to love post marriage- all themes are dealt with in her stories. In this post I speak about 8 short stories of first love, each highlighting a theme of friendship, infatuation, betrayal, loss, and much more.
The Magazine Seller: ‘Ever since I didn’t get a job after my graduation’ Ujwal has been selling magazines in the local train. It is there that he spots Ananya, a professor commuting via the Kalyani local to her University every day. Both are drawn towards the other despite their uneven economic backgrounds. Gooptu has beautifully brought in the current economic crisis in the country as a parallel to the love story. Hundreds of qualified youth roam jobless in the streets of Kolkata and other cities or defeated, take to menial jobs to support their families. On the other hand, there are several who choose to serve the people, even though they come from the crème de la crème of the society. Would Ujwal and Ananya’s growing friendship culminate in a relationship? One has to read The Magazine Seller to know.
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First Day First Love: It is love at first sight for Durga when she enters her new office. Deep, a well-known journalist with the news company Durga lands an internship with; as well as her boss becomes the apple of her eyes at first sight. But does all that meets the eye is as is? What happens when the bubble of myth breaks? Does it leads to a new beginning or endures heartbreak? Infatuation is extremely common among teenagers and post-teens. It is such that it blinds a person and reduces their ability to rationalize the situation. However, more often than not, a person cannot be determined, understood, or judged by their appearance.
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No Ordinary Crush: Sonali has always been very close to Anil Uncle, her father’s friend. What happens when years later she sees him in a different light? Is her attraction baseless or does it find reciprocation too? The author explores two significant themes in this story. When a close relation suddenly finds a new meaning, individuals like Sonali are at a loss trying to find an explanation to the situation. They find themselves cornered and claustrophobic for the mere reason that they cannot speak to anyone about it for the fear of being judged by others. Furthermore, is love truly bound by the shackles of age? Can an individual not fall in love with an older man or woman and yet live a peaceful and loving life with his/her partner? No Ordinary Crush leaves the readers to ponder about the norm of relations and whether truly they can be broken by lovers.
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The Letters: Shefali, Rajat, and Sanjukta have been childhood friends. While Shefali and Rajat leave for the US to pursue higher studies, Sanjukta stays back. The three of them are in touch for over four years through letters. However, their last letters to each other turn out to be confessions of sorts, where the readers come face to face with each friend having something to reveal about themselves. These revelations do turn their relationship complex, but to what degree is a matter of time. Gooptu touches upon a theme so relevant and yet debatably accepted in society. Every individual has a right to choose the person they love; and love is not bound by age, caste, sex, religion, and the likes.
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A Strange Connection: Akshay gets smitten by Swati from the moment his eyes fall on her during a late-night metro home. He starts finishing off his work quickly so that he can catch the same metro with her. However, Swati seems a reserved, quiet, shy, and quite a complex person; which is unnatural for a young college-goer who is often so full of life. Would Akshay be able to find out about the mysterious Swati? Would he ever be able to confess his liking towards her? An average college goer’s life is beautifully explored beyond the focal theme of the story. Today’s college students have a hundred things in mind besides studies- examination, results, competitions, achievements, parental pressure, peer pressure, early marriage, relationships, etc. These often form a heavy cloud of thoughts in their mind; which sometimes need immediate sorting out. At times, failure to do so might lead to disastrous consequences.
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Don’t Stand So Close to Me: A college romance where the odd has turned against Anuradha, a middle-aged professor who is deeply drawn towards her student Sachin. Strangely it is music that binds them together and in one such musical soiree both comes face to face with a lot to say to each other. Gooptu raises a very pertinent question in this story about middle-aged single women and their needs. Every individual has a right to love and be loved. But it takes humungous battles with the self, the psyche, and the society to overcome the taboos and stand up for oneself in such situations.
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Opposites Attract: Can love and competition co-exist? Anjali and Rajbir are journalists who started their careers at the same time in the same news company. While Rajbir started developing feelings for Anjali, she started developing feelings for an ambitious career. Would these two opposites ever feel the attraction? Would love win over ambitiousness? Opposites Attract highlights the beauty of modern-day corporates and their ability to magically push an individual into the web of ambition. This transition is so subtle that one fails to realize when he/she distances from the loved ones and enters a world of lies where every action is measured in an equivalent pound of reaction. But do such growths really add value to an individual’s life, or it takes them away from themselves?
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An Imperfect Equation: Abha, a young college-goer gets smitten by her professor from the first day of college. All she can talk about to her friends his him, to the extent that she even thinks that this is how love feels. Would she ever muster the courage to tell her professor? Would her professor acknowledge and reciprocate the same? Developing a crush or an infatuation towards school/ college professors are very common in today’s society. While some relations do mature, some result in heartbreaks and yet others realize their foolishness and move forward. It is interesting to read how Abha’s story progresses.
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Debeshi’s stories need to be seen as beyond love stories to understand the background and the society of the protagonists which hugely influences their actions. If you love short stories, then enjoy some nice love stories this monsoon and I will be back with few more recommendations soon.
by Subhadrika Sen 