Editor's Note
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Each of the stories in this release of Out of Print has a resonance with some aspect of the cover image by Suki Dhanda, perhaps because it captures something of what the narrator in Gilead (Picador, 2004) by the remarkable Marilynne Robinson says of people: ‘… I am struck by a kind of incandescence in them, the “I” whose predicate can be “love” or “fear” or “want”, and whose object can be “someone” or “nothing” and it won’t really matter because the loveliness is just in that presence, shaped around “I” like a flame on a wick emanating itself in grief and guilt and joy and whatever else.’

 

In Word Sanctuary by Meenakshi Chawla, one writer visits another. We discover that their relationship is based in a staggering amorality that the protagonist, despite his fine sensitivity, is compelled to exploit. Shom Biswas' The Other Transgression also tells the story of a character who is driven, this time by loyalty to friend and fraternity, to make a profound and ugly compromise that directly impacts him.

 

Sathya Saran's, The Lost Note, brings alive the particular and intimate dynamic of orchestral musicians as the flautist awaits his final cue. The imagery has the quality of a dream filled with anxious twists and a yearning for that elusive lost note. Also about finality, Kaushiki Rao's Obituary raises questions of fairness in a situation whose larger structures are outside of ones control. Stylistically, it is an obituary that lays out the life achievements of the dead individual who, in this case, is an insect.

 

Neeta Deshpande's, The Recounter of Memories leaves us with a sense of resignation and sadness, but also of courage. A woman on the brink of a divorce visits her old home. All that she is leaving behind impresses itself upon her, but at the same time, she examines the levels of breakdown that make it impossible for her to stay. Another story about marriage, Divya A's Bride Barter is all the more brutal for being based on real stories that she encountered as a journalist in rural Haryana. Savitha Devi is torn because her fifteen-year-old daughter is being given in marriage as barter for her son's bride.

 

In contrast to the inherent cruelties in the previous two stories, Roshna Kapadia's Mrs Aggarwal's Mirror, carries the kind of closure that indents a sense of human grace. Set in the countryside of a changing India, it spans generations and lifestyles, and plays with the inevitable ironies of a complex and multi-layered world. The Love Letter by Madhumita Roy is also based in the great divides that course through the landscape of Indian society; Priyambada Sen, whose view is framed by the English literature she teaches, is full of hope as she contemplates writing a love letter to a man who is barely literate.

 

Finally, with searing and disturbing imagery, Niven Govinden's Grains follows a photographer who is recording man taming the wild for his purpose. She is an observer, reconciled to the fact that she has 'no power to stop anything'.

 

We've been happy to have intern, Leela Levitt working with us at Out of Print since August. Her strong perspectives played an important part in the curating of this issue. Leela is a recent graduate from University College London with a BA in Linguistics. She grew up in Sweden and England but has connections to India on her mother's side and has travelled there frequently. She has previously worked on academic texts and writes in her blog about her interests but primarily about the state of the British education system.

 

Three of the nine writers in this issue have been published in Out of Print before. We are so pleased to feature their work again. We continue to post updates on the Out of Print Blog, and on Facebook, and are now on Twitter.

 

 

 

The cover design by Yamuna Mukherjee contains artwork by Suki Dhanda from the series, Shopna, and images from a piece of Kalamkari or crafted-by-pen fabric depicting stories from Indian mythology.

London based photographer Suki Dhanda has been shooting professionally for over 10 years. As one of The Observer's main portrait photographer's she has shot countless celebrities, musicians, politicians and sports personalities. Her editorial commissions are regularly published in leading magazines and press nationally and internationally.

Reportage is another strong components of Suki's work and she has shot stories in many countries including coffee farmers in Rwanda, tea workers in China, farmer's in India and fair trade olive oil in Palestine.

Her personal projects concentrate on people in their environments and ethnicity and she has exhibited and worked with the British Council, Platform for Art and Photographer's Gallery.

Currently a collection of Suki's images are in a collective exhibition called Homeland touring India curated by British Council India. To coincide with this Suki spent July 2013 in Bangalore in India on an arts residency.

 

 

 

Selected stories may contain language or details that could be viewed as offensive. Readers below 18 are cautioned to use discretion. Views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily supported by Out of Print.