Ticket To The Moon by Uthaya Kumar
12 Stories Offer A Peek At Past Rural Life In India
By NITISH S. RELE
The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 13, 2008
"Ticket to the Moon," by Uthaya Kumar (Bouncing Ball Books, $19.95)
Decades ago, Uthaya Kumar of Tampa worked as a veterinarian in poor and desolate villages of India. The experience of visiting the underprivileged but dignified folks is now an open book (so to speak) in the first-time author's anthology "Ticket to the Moon."
There's the vegetable seller, Lady Alamilu of "Debt," who waits patiently for three years. The reason? So she could return small change from the sale of vegetables to the narrator.
Kumar takes us back to the day when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. In a remote village, Muvirundali in south India, All-India Radio has broken the news to the curious townsfolk. Deivanai, a 73-year-old widow, attempts to bribe her nephew with jewelry.
"You can use all these, or keep them, but the next time the Americans go to the moon can you get me also a ticket."
"Santhosam's Riddles" leaves a lasting impression on the narrator. As in what is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10? "One means one Earth, 2 - two eggs, 3 - three gods, 4 - four legs of a chair, 5 - five Pandavas, 6 - six faces of Muruga, 7 - seven continents, 8 - eight directions (including diagonals), 9 - nine planets, 10 - 10 digits," is her answer.
Written with immaculate details of rural life and its people in India, the 12 short stories are a breezy read. Stark black-and-white images of village life are captured superbly by A. Esakki.
Nitish S. Rele is a special sections editor for the advertising department of The Tampa Tribune.
