A SKYFUL OF BALLOONS by SANTOSH BAKAYA – BOOK REVIEW – Post Number 7 - #MyFriendAlexa

                                                                    thereviewsindia.co.in

The colourful balloons soaring against a blue sky catch one’s attention at first sight, bringing the sense of joy that balloons always do. ‘A Skyful of Balloons’ is a novella by the erudite wordsmith, Santosh Bakaya, a story set in a sprawling bungalow in Raj Bagh, Srinagar, where the ebullient Priti lives with her parents.

“She talked and talked.

And talked

Like a babbling brook outside her house, she babbled on.

And on and on she went with a bright-eyed exuberance.

But one day she turned quiet. Extremely quiet.

The moon and the flowers no longer sent her into a tizzy.”

The story is that of a boy and a girl, extremely close friends, whose conversations veer around poetry and literary allusions, painting and Russian writers. They banter in good humour as they spout lines from Romeo and Juliet, The Ancient Mariner, and Alfred Tennyson. Nursery rhymes collide with fairy tales, and even the Cheshire Cat makes a rare appearance. It is these wonderful moments of camaraderie that hint at the deep enduring love and romance that they share. At one moment, Priti is petulant, and at the next, she smiles with mischief as Vicky throws a Shakespearean repartee at her that she cannot resist.

                                                                          Slideshare

Priti’s parents, the Rainas, pamper her unabashedly, as they celebrate her birthday with numerous thoughtful gestures that delight the child-woman. The Dhars, Vicky’s parents, consider her as their own daughter. Having grown up in the same neighbourhood, it is taken for granted that the two are fated to marry.

Just when the readers have quite lost their heads over this charming girl, she goes into a shell, refusing to allow the wall she has built around her to crack. Santosh Bakaya is a seasoned writer who knows how to play on the heartstrings of her readers, all the while keeping the suspense alive.

Another forte of Ms. Bakaya is the lyricism that she employs in her descriptions of nature and her beloved Kashmir.

“Every day for the fortnight that they were there, the twilight trembled on the mountains; the breeze rapturously kissed the pine and the fir trees, the feisty foam-flecked Lidder broke into song, or was it someone singing soulfully in the distance?”

                                                              

                                            Lidder - Travel Tales from India and Abroad

 The Lidder has a personality of its own, as it flows on in “a mad celebration” on “a mischievous spree.”

“Soon night spread its black transparent wings, and in one amorous sweep took the lake in a hug. Wavelets, carried away by the romance of the moment, rolled and rippled with a musical splash. In a spurt of magnanimity, the sky dropped streaming threads of gold into the lake, the bejewelled skies reveled, the waves sighed dreamily, becoming one with their love.”

There is a bit of the leprechaun in Ms. Bakaya herself, as she waxes eloquent on romance. “The shikhara moved on, in sync with the music of their banter and boisterous laughter, and seemed to be heading towards some idyllic fairyland where imps, pixies and elves, enthused by their love, were getting ready to waltz and tango to their every whim, every fancy, every dream, every idiosyncrasy, and an invisible leprechaun waited at the end of the rainbow, a big bright smile on his face, holding aloft the hidden pot of gold for them.”

Ms. Bakaya encompasses the passing of time in two crisp lines that span over a decade.

 "The ribbing, the bantering, the leg-pulling, the sulks, the tantrums, continued endlessly.

Then ten summers, autumns, winters, springs passed in the blink of an eye, flying by as though in a roseate dream.”

Why does this bubbly girl suddenly begin to experience nightmares that make her feel as though "she were being swallowed up in a black, bottomless abyss?” What is the connection between her and the seven-year-old boy with “the bluest eyes” ever seen on a human face? Is it an indication of tragic events casting their shadows ahead? Why does she continue to listen to her own sounds?

The novella ends as beautifully as it begins, as the reader is left with the image of a crackling fire in the fireplace, and a feeling of warmth as the strains of Frank Sinatra fill one’s heart.

“But as long as you love me so,

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

But if you really hold me tight

All the way home I’ll be warm.

The fire is slowly dying

And, my dear, we’re still goodbye-ing.”

                                                                    youtube.com

Ms. Santosh Bakaya's other books: 

                                                                     Amazon.in

And the talented wordsmith herself!

      

                                                                  Authorspress

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