“Chaso Dolls’ Wedding and other stories” : Book Review

The author Chaganti Somayajulu (CHASO) is a venerable writer who strongly believes in marxist principles. Chaso and Gurajada Appa Rao are the precious jewels in the crown of the most literally vibrant town of Vizianagaram. Though the revolutionary hues are completely absent in his writings, his progressive attitude and sense of belongingness towards the society is clearly mirrored in all his stories. Unlike some of the writers of his era, woman is not portrayed as a special person. Chaso doesn’t harbour any biased judgements and are gender neutral. Both women and men are depicted in a natural way. Ordinary people with no special prowess are the protagonists of his stories and hence they are realistic, narrative expeditions. The book “Chaso Dolls’ Wedding and other stories” translated by Velcheru Narayana Rao and David Shulman, generates a peculiar interest in readers since none of the characters or the circumstances appear to be fictitious. They seem to be extracts of real life, natural and original. None of stories are preachy. They are very lucid; hence it would be pleasure-reading for people. Surprisingly none of the stories have a conclusive climax and so the reader has the privilege, liberty and to perceive the end according to their own discretion, choice and attitude. Hence it gives lot of freedom and leaves scope for a wider and better imagination. The heroes and heroines of Chaso are often the striking examples of the various cross-section of the society. They are pragmatic and revel as examples of how they attack the travails of the society like the abject poverty, deception, adultery and unscientific customs of the society.

Simply put each story deals with different emotions, frustrations, displacements and compromises by common man. There are no picturesque descriptions. Almost all the  twenty stories are based on the lives of the lower-middle class or the working class who has hand to mouth existence. The situations in the stories are down to earth and relevant. Since the stories are precise, lucid they are easy to understand and reader can quickly assimilate the corpus of the story. The most interesting aspect is none of the characters have the tendency to given up. They are not withdrawn by the self-pity and deprivation. In fact the heroines of his stories try to rebuild their lives by re-inventing themselves rather becoming the victims of situations. They are more assertive and fight for themselves and resist the evil temptations and pathetic cultural restraints with tact.

This book would be particularly handy for the newly emerging tribe of Telugu illiterates who are deprived of the pleasure of understanding the colloquial idioms in native language. Though they may not savour the flavour the beauty of the native dialect, this translation can compensate it. Author introduces the readers to the cultural practices and the customs of the north coastal region of Andhra of the late 1950’s. This book would be a literary feast to young readers of the present generation who are completely oblivious to cultural and societal settings of the early independence era. It provides an opportunity to investigate and understand the mind-set of people of that particular period. The translators did their best to recreate the magical effect of the original idioms and phrases used in the natural conversation. The scintillating effect, blithe of literary nuances and laconic dialogues can be well assimilated in the original tongue.

 

 

 

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