Book Review: Muawza by Sanjiv Priyadarshi

Muawza by Sanjiv Priyadarshi is a collection of eleven short stories. The title Muawza is an Urdu word meaning compensation. The book is built around quite a number of themes that matter in life. Friendship, sacrifice, societal status, blessing, death, irony of fate, and of course compensation are the prominent themes that takes the storytelling to an elevated level. The great thing about the book is its literary stature that is inclined towards humanity and compassion. Within so short space, the author managed to tell stories that looked replete from all sides.

Nearly all stories are well-narrated, have subthemes, and ends unexpectedly. However, readers may feel that the tempo and feel of the book is terrific in first five stories, especially dealing with death and other tragedies that could not be amounted with any other compensation.

The first titular story Muawza discusses the futility of life of people living around roadside i.e. slum dwellers, who are often victimized by random accidents. An old man dies in an accident; his widow gets two lakh rupees as compensation by an MLA. The slum dwellers weren’t sad about the death but astonished by the compensation price. Another poor Haria often broods about his missing son Krishna. He waits for him. Ironically when Krishna makes a home return, the fate takes a cruel turn…but that compensation may go fruitless.

The second story is quite emotional where a better-off couple keeps the hope alive to see and adopt a girl suffering from brain tumour, from Assam. But as they reach her home in Assam a bad news jolts them.

‘Let’s Begin Afresh’ sheds the pain of a mother who is struggling to find a shelter home after being discarded by her son Amit. Life’s loss cannot always be compensated for emotions. Crime & Karma is another profound story on the moral choices one makes. It’s a heartfelt story of a Nepali smuggler.

Most of the stories towards the end of the book are shorter than the early ones. The book is brilliantly written. The author aimed to bring a gamut of medley of emotions that grip human lives whether they are city people, slum dwellers or rural folks. This is one of the short crisp read that will fill your heart with pain and sympathy that you will exude for the characters that you come across while listening to their woeful tales of fate. In all stories of Sajiv, except a few, fate is evident like banter in the backdrop.

Irrespective of falling into any specific genre, this book can be picked up by any kind of reader for a delightful and engrossing experience.

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