Shyam Selvadurai

This is an important work: South Asian authors writing from all parts of the diaspora. Much of the work is from authors LGBTQ, and much of the work dealing with LGBTQ themes. The works from the oldest writers come first, and the collection ends with a writer born in the 70s, who, sadly, died last year, after writing a novel that took him 16 years: Numair A. Choudhury. Refreshing.

3 stars
The perfection of giving by Chiyra Fernando
Did you ever notice how the people who talk most about being religious, are some of the most hypocritical and ungenerous people? This is a story about this kind of person and the karma that they so deserve coming their way.

3 stars
The management of grief by Bharati Mukherjee
This is a story about the survivors of families who were killed in air India flight 182, in 1995 I believe.

3 stars
Crossmatch by Farida Karodia
Hindu Indian parents can be very old-fashioned when it comes to their children's marriage matches. And this story two sets of parents, trying to match up their children, are in for a rude awakening.

4 stars
The collectors by Rohinton Mistry
The disappointment a father suffers when his bully-boy son does not share interest in his stamp hobby leads to the father cultivating a friendship with the next-door neighbor boy. (I made the mistake of reading this story while I was eating a salad with blue-cheese dressing on it.)

3 stars
We're not Jews by Hanif Kureishi
A sad story about a little boy who lives with his mixed-race family in England and gets bullied every day at school, without even understanding why.

3 stars
Captives by Romesh Gunesekera
Sigiyira is a black rock on a mountain in Sri Lanka. An English couple stops at a newly-opened hotel on their"honeymoon." The manager accompanies them up the mountain and tells them the story of Kassyapa, the illegitimate son of the king, who built a palace on top of the mountain.

4 stars
Out on" Main St by Shani Mootoo
Trinidad's population is a mish-mash of different populations, cultures. Many born there have no idea what other's expectations mean, when they think they know who they are by looking at their face. This author's work is hilarious:
"De atmosphere in de room take a hairpin turn, and it was Man aggressing on woman, woman warding off a herd a man who just had dey pride publicly cut up a couple of times in just a few minutes.
One brother walk over to Janet and me and he stand up facing me with his hands clasp in front a his crotch, like if he protecting it. Stiff stiff, looking at me, he say, 'will that be all?'
Mih crew cut start to tingle, so I put on Mih femmest smile and say, 'yes that's it, thank you. Just the bill please.' de smartass turn to face Janet and he remove his hands from in front a his crotch and slip his thumbs inside his pants like a cowboy 'bout to do a square dance. He smile, looking down at her attentive fuh so, and he say, 'can I do anything for you?'
I didn't give Janet time for his intent to even register before I bulldoze in mih most un femmest Manner, 'she have everything she need, man, thank you. The bill please.' Yuh think he hear me? It was like I was talking to thin air. He remain smiling at Janet, but she, looking at me, not at him, say, 'you heard her. The bill please.'
Before he could even leave the table proper, I start mih tirade. 'but hey hey! You see that? You could believe that! The effing so-and-so! One minute you feel sorry for them and next minute they harassing the heck out of you. Janet, he crazy to mess with my woman, yes! ' Janet get vex with me and say I overreacting and it's not for me to be Vex, but fuh she to be Vex. Is she he insult, and she could take good enough care a she self."

Just when I stand up to leave, de doors dem open up and in walks SAndy and Lise, coming for dey weekly hit a Indian sweet. Well, with Sandy and lise is a dead giveaway dat dey not dressing for any man, it have no place in dey life fuh man-vibes, and dat in fact they have a blatant penchant fuh women. Soon as dey enter de room yuh could see de brothers and de couple men customers dat had come in minutes before stare dem down from head to Birkenstocks, dey eyes bulging with disgust. And de women in de room start shoo-shooing, and putting dey hand in front dey mouth to stop dey surprise, and false teeth, too, from falling out. Sandy and lise spot us instantly and dey call out to us Shameless, loud and affectionate. Dey leap over to us, eager to hug up and kiss like if dey hadn't seen us for years, but it was really only since two nights aback when we went out to dey favorite Indian restaurant for dinner. I figure dat de display was a genuine happiness to be seen wit us in dat place. While we stand up dere chatting, Sandy insist on rubbing she hand up and down Janet back--wit friendly intent, mind you, and same time Lise have she arm round Sandy waist. Well, all cover get blown. If it was even remotely possible dat I wasn't noticeable before, now Janet and I were over exposed. We could a easily suffer from hypothermia, specially since it suddenly get cold cold in there."

4 stars
Chakra by Numair A Chadhury
This story is troubling, touching, and puzzling.… (plus d'informations)

Cinnamon Gardens is set, like its predecessor Funny boy, in and around Colombo, but some fifty years earlier, in 1927, with a British commission about to visit the island to make proposals for self- government. The central characters are members of a prominent Tamil family, living in the eponymous up-market suburb, which takes its name from a former plantation. Balendran is worried by the arrival of the commission, as accompanying it will be his former lover Richard. They lived together for a while in London when they were both young, but Balendran's father, the Mudaliyar Navaratnam, broke up the relationship, threatening to denounce Richard to the police. In the mean time, Balendran has married his cousin Sonia, and they have a son who is studying in England. Balendran remains afraid of his father, and still slips out at night to meet men at a local cruising spot. His niece Annalukshmi, the other main character, is a young woman at odds with her family's plans to marry her off, and heavily influenced by Miss Lawton, headmistress of the school where she teaches. There, one might say, are all the familiar elements from Funny boy: return of old flame, charismatic head-teacher, rebellious, intelligent young woman, family tangles and all the complexities of communitarian politics in the colonial world. However, the style is very different, Selvadurai has clearly moved on, and this is a mature and serious novel. Balendran's homosexuality is important, but it is not in itself the key to what is going on - the novel is really about his relationship with his father, and the way that he eventually breaks out of the blackmail that his father has used ever since discovering the relationship with Richard.

(A review I wrote for a newsletter in 1999 and rediscovered in the archive)… (plus d'informations)

I loved this one. Set in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1928 as the country and its British colonizers are grappling the island's political future, the two principal characters grapple with personal happiness versus family expectations and societal constraints. Annalukshmi is a young woman who has recently earned her teaching certification, much to the horror of her family - working is "common" and will diminish her chances of finding a husband. Her chances are already damaged, as her fathers reversion to Hinduism forced her parents to separate and her mother return with the girls to Ceylon from Malaysia. When Annalukshmi's father writes that he is arranging a marriage for her to her Hindu cousin, her mother and aunt attempt to find a suitable alliance with a Christian instead. Annalukshmi, meanwhile, is not sure she wants to marry, as she loves teaching, though she discovers that her ambitions might be checked by racial considerations and preference.

Annalukshmi's beloved uncle Balendran grapples with his own happiness. As a young student in England, he fell in love with his soulmate Richard, but his father, anonymously tipped off about the nature of their relationship, shows up unexpectedly and ends it in a terrible way. Balendran marries a cousin and is miserable, until over time and with their shared love for their son, he and his wife develop a comfortable love and affection. Balendran does his father's bidding in all things, particularly since his elder brother's expulsion from the family. His father forces a reunion with Richard, who is now working on the commission that will make decisions about the future of British rule in Ceylon. Meeting Richard again forces Balendran to confront his feelings and his acquiescence to the wishes of his father and the strictures of society. The novel gently explores the characters' emotions and decisions against a vivid and evocative backdrop of the Sri Lankan setting. I recommend it highly.… (plus d'informations)