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‘Faisla’: Not a short story, but a brave document of sentiment

‘Faisla’: Not a short story, but a brave document of sentiment
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Book Review

By: Dr. Amit Tiwari

“Whatever I saw, felt and lived within, I put it on these pages.” This line of Dr. Satyavan Saurabh emerges as the soul of his short story collection “Faisla”.

At a time when in contemporary Hindi literature, short story has been considered a synonym for smallness, this collection revives the tradition where deep things are said in few words – without noise, without pretence, but with full self-confidence and social conscience.

A fearless mirror of social reality

The short stories of “Faisla” raise those hidden questions of the society on which literature generally remains silent–neglect of the elderly, silence of women, hollow definition of relationships, decline of moral education in children, and insensitivity of the educated society. Short stories like ‘Thaali’, ‘Chuppi’, ‘Wasiyat’, ‘Maaf Karna Maa’, ‘Gumba TV’ shake the reader from within.

Writers do not imagine an ideal world, but present to us the world in which we live—the only difference is that they have not ‘seen’ it, but have ‘felt’ it, and this difference is what makes their creativity unique.

Style and Language: Depth in Simplicity

Dr. Saurabh’s language is not a tool of beauty, but of truth. There is no verbiage in his style, no linguistic miracles, yet at the end of every story there is a sentence that goes straight to the heart – such as:

“It’s not illness that kills, son; it’s helplessness that kills.”

“Every ending demands a ‘verdict’.”

Such sentences are not mere lines, but signatures of emotions. This style connects the reader to the process of feeling, not reading.

Characters: People among us

The characters of these stories are not heroes or heroines—they are mothers, daughters-in-law, old people, children, teachers, and sons. All of them have emerged from our homes, neighborhoods.

The struggle of every character is collective even though it is personal. Reena’s self-determination in the story ‘Doosra Bachcha’, a grandfather’s incomplete love story in ‘Purani Kitab’, a mother’s faith in ‘Coaching’—all these are personal ends of social discourse.

The female characters are especially noteworthy—they are not ‘Abla’ (weak) but are the embodiment of silent resistance. The last dialogue of the daughter-in-law in ‘Chuppi’ becomes the scream of every silent woman.

Meets the criteria of a short story

The short stories in “Faisla” follow the discipline that defines a true short story writer—brevity, clarity, and striking power. Every story has a balance of beginning, middle and end, and a twist in the end that forces the reader to think.

Restoration of morality and decency

The beauty of this collection is that it does not preach morals, but every story leaves a moral question behind. The aim of the author is not to preach anything, but to raise questions in the reader. After every story, the reader pauses for a while – sometimes in self-reproach, sometimes in thought, sometimes just in silence.

Relevant in contemporary context

Dr. Satyavan Saurabh also skillfully weaves contemporary contexts into his stories—’Coaching’, ‘Dumb TV’, ‘NGO and old age’, ‘Importance of books’, ‘Lack of sensitivity’—each story identifies today’s society.

Why is this collection essential?

“Faisla” is not just a collection of short stories, it is a document of a writer’s sensitivity, his social responsibility and his inner struggle. This collection tells us that if writing is true, it can become the most powerful medium to show the mirror to the society.

Every story forces us to take some ‘decision’- about ourselves, our relationships, our society. This work of Dr. Satyavan Saurabh is a milestone in Hindi short story literature, which is a balanced amalgamation of sentimentality, discretion and social consciousness.

This collection should not be read, but lived.

(The author is a critic, an educationist and a keen reader of contemporary literature)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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