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Book Review: Siddhartha Street by Sudha Yadav

Siddhartha Street by Sudha Yadav is a collection of ten short stories. It’s an easy-to-read, relatable, and subtly interconnected collection. Right since the beginning, look at the front cover page, it gives vibes that the stories are placed in South India, in Tamil Nadu. Costumes, Dosa, auto rickshaw number, and daily chores… evidently a South Indian setting…

Siddhartha Street is all about familiar neighborhood stories, with regular dose of melancholy, emotional drama, social idiosyncrasies, parental intervention, gossiping, and so on. The book is staged against Siddhartha Street, it acts as a part protagonist, and cultural point. The street has residencies of all types across many class and religions – big houses, flats, lonely apartments, tenants, land lords – it bustles with a small rivulet of diversity. The author must have lived at one such place to deliver similar stories.

The book commences with ‘The Retired Couple’. Mr and Mrs. Ranganathan is a lonely couple, their son rebelled to live at some other place. This story explores the humane yet bitter side of relationships. Senthil Ranganathan is seen as possessed due to his skeptical behavior towards technology, banks, and his son.

‘The Widow’ is a humorous story of an old lady named Tilakammal and her ill-famous maid Ponamma. It’s believed that she was behind the murder of her husband. As you chug ahead and get in the story, you will get to know the inside story of a forlorn woman suffering by the patriarchal society.

The story of Aruna and Arul brings the nuisances of gender discrimination and how audaciously a boy in the family can ask for his share, but daughter is ought to remain silent and meek. It’s also a tale of meek rivalries, unbridled ambitions, crippling insecurities, and unexpected drama.

Siddhartha Street is deeply touching and poignant in its essence. The stories blend an array of human emotions that run high and low in family lives according to their time and circumstances. Twisted by fate, touched by compassion, nudged by greed, and protected by innocence – this collection brings so much about our society, where we are constantly participating, sometimes oblivion to the changes happening around us and at times watching the drama unfold through our terraces, windows, and gardens.

The book has many characters, all part of the same street, but their struggle and drama differ from one to another to a large extent. In its stance, the book brings the societal elements to notice.

‘Siddhartha Street’ by Sudha Yadav is about closely knitted stories from a typical residential area. Being a debut author, Sudha simply shines with her efforts, her command over the language is at par. Though some stories were indirect and slightly heavy, yet they were highly unpredictable.

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