Floating Petals review by Mohsin Maqbool
“Floating Petals” is a book containing 14 short stories, each more beautiful than the other.
Hip author Leela.
“A Piece of Bread” is a lovely story about a girl’s first day at school. She is only interested in reading. She has probably learnt to read at home while waiting two years for school to reopen during the Japanese occupation. I am not sure but it could be a story about Leela’s childhood itself.
She is a brave and determined girl as, while most of the other students are crying or feeling morose, she is the only one who wants to read. Ironically, the first day of school is disappointing for her as there is no reading but only the eating of bread and butter.
A baby sucks a mango.
Here is the first sentence followed by the first paragraph from the story:
“Now I am tall.
“I lean over the sink as I suck on a large yellow mango stone. There are bits of mango flesh around my mouth and on my cheeks. Mango juice runs in rivulets down my chin and drips into the sink. Ugh! Now it runs down my arm and drips off my elbow.”
The difference between free and enslaved feet in the China of bygone days.
“Floating petals” is a cutting-edge story about a Chinese woman with four-inch feet. Here short feet are supposed to be a sign of beauty. In reality, babies in China during the 18th and 19th century had their feet tightly wrapped with a bandage so that they would not grow. Once they were married, it would be impossible for them to run away from home. In fact, they would be walking extremely slowly taking short baby-like steps. This tradition was carried out as women could not be trusted, not in the least bit.
“The woman rubbed Ma-ling’s feet with ground almond and frankincense and a generous amount of alum. She bound her feet with strips of wet cotton back and forth in a figure of eight, curling her toes back to the soles of her feet.”
It is a melancholic but beautiful story.
Chinese female mourners in hooded dresses.
The last story “After the Wedding” is absolutely beautiful and extremely touching. It is the story about an illiterate farm girl, Wenli, who gets married to a city man. Her husband hardly ever speaks to her. All of Wenli’s desires and wishes seem to have been crushed after marriage.
Here is an excerpt from the story: “Handfuls of perforated paper were thrown into the breeze to frighten away the spirits. After the funeral, the mourners were given red packets of money for good luck. Attending a funeral was an act of courage and they were rewarded.”
Howrah Station (West Bengal, India) circa early 1960s.
In “At the Railway Station”, Leela witnesses pin-drop silence when she arrives there at dawn. It could be any station in India. Soon with the emergence of light, a quick transformation is seen at the station with the hustle and bustle of passengers, rushing of porters (who are called coolies in the subcontinent), and the opening of shops. There is a beggar child too who overwhelms Leela with melancholia.
“Running Away” is a fabulous story about a girl who runs away from home as a blind woman, whom she took care of once, had told her that she would love her to stay with her. The day she runs away she is so excited that she even forgets to wear her shoes. However, running away is not as good as it seemed at first, as she misses her parents, her Mom’s cooking, and the fish her mother cooked which she earlier had found to be extremely smelly.
The long migration of the sparrow occurs in the dark, with only the stars and an imprint in the brain to guide them.
“Homeless Sparrow” is the story of a sparrow who has been guided by his mother to fly far away in search of a new home when their much-loved habitat has been destroyed. “The Shadow” is unique with the story being narrated by the shadow of a person. “Love is All You Need” is one of my favourite stories in the book, so read it and find what it is all about. “The Couple” is about a ghost couple who visit their home (which has been reoccupied), the terrace of an office building, and a disco just below the terrace where they dance on the strobe-lighted floor with many living couples.
Have you ever read a story where one of the planets or one of the stars is the narrator? Well, “Moon” is just that. She travels to earth and a man falls in love with her.
The book is highly recommended for all those who love reading fiction. Each of Leela’s short stories is amazing in its own way. I must also add here that her English is top-notch and her creative writing is superb. Her stories are full of alliterations. She uses simple language which even a layman reader will be able to understand.
If you don’t read “Floating Petals”, you will truly be missing a beautiful work of art.
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