Atitle like The Mad Tibetan surely appeals. That’s one of the major draws of this collection of short stories by actress Deepti Naval. As soon as you pick up the book, you want to know about this ‘mad’ Tibetan — who he is and what he ends up doing. That’s not the first story in the book, though. The collection begins with The Piano Tuner, which, for me, was by far the best story. It is the story of an extraordinary piano player who, because of an unforeseen twist of fate, has to tune pianos in people’s homes for a living. It’s the style of narration that would really capture your imagination, a poet’s style with exacting details that not only make you see what’s happening in the story, but can also make you see what’s happening inside the man’s mind.

Then there’s Sisters, where two girls with long flowing hair decide to tonsure their heads; and it’s not because of some social mores or religious extremes; the reason is so ‘homely’ you can’t help but marvel at the extraordinariness of the ordinary.

Every story here has a slice of life, one piece of the myriad flavours that life is made up of — carefully cut out and laid before you. Every story springs a little surprise, the kind of surprises that life inevitably throws up before you. There’s Bombay Central, the story of a man who comes to Bombay from Rajasthan for the first time and is offered a night stay in a stranger’s home. No, he doesn’t get robbed or ripped off, as I’m sure you’re expecting. What happens to him is stranger and more shocking than that.

The mad Tibetan lurks somewhere in the middle of the book, and like many other stories in this collection, is one of the true experiences of the author. The Tibetan, living in a roofless tent on a desolate mountain in the upper ranges of Ladakh, is a part comic, part tragic character; he’s mad, he’s joyous and he’s one for the camera! He’s a character with a childlike innocence, an infant with no regard for the world… a character you can brush by, in passing, without being able to completely understand.

The stories are gentle and surprising in turns, but somehow they don’t really touch you deep. They might create a ripple on the surface, but wouldn’t be able to reach that part of you where a tale is cherished and carefully stored up to be remembered in moments of silence.

zehranaqvi@mydigitalfc.com