Uneven the collection may be, like collections invariably are, yet well worth reading for some excellent stories.
One would not cavil, however, about re-reading Going. An exquisite story, with not a single wrong note, it brings out the relationships between three women—the narrator, her mother and her grandmother—in a lyrical, nuanced way. The pathos of old age, the quiet process of dying and the beauty and tranquility of the surroundings come together in a seamless whole. Lines on maps interest Daruwalla as much as lines between people; Of Mother, a fine story about a family, set against the background of imminent Partition, deals with both. What sets Daruwalla apart as a story-writer are his tales of people caught in the vortex of historic moments—from Alexander’s invasion to the Quit India movement. Whether he writes of Mahmud of Ghazni, or of a Brahmin living during the events of 1857, the stories have a welcome quality of surprise. Uneven the collection may be, like collections invariably are, yet well worth reading for some excellent stories.