Sutanuka reviews Ketaki Datta’s An Unshared Secret and Other Stories, a spectacular, unforgettable sorcery of ordinary lives and profound human truths, for Different Truths.
Ketaki Datta is an academic poet, ace translator and short story writer based in Kolkata. An Unshared Secret and Other Stories is her latest collection of twenty short stories. In this collection, she assembles, shapes, reshapes, constructs, deconstructs, and moulds something spectacular from ‘ordinary’ with the sleight of her pen.
Her readers have been witnessing her sorcery in tangible forms in these stories that leave a permanent imprint on their minds. The language of Datta is strong and not confined to any one dimension. Saikat Majumdar writes, “These stories encompass a wide range of human emotions and experiences and are capable of shocking you sharply and surprising you from within the calm texture of ordinary life.”
The opening story, “Terror, Peril, and Fate of Children”, offers a compelling commentary on the essence of terror that is being tailor-made and injected by notorious men, which plays havoc in the lives of children like Suleiman, Ali, and Ashraf and their families. This narrative is metaphorically juxtaposed with the idealised militant notions and the stark realities a common person faces.
Datta writes, “Life moved along at an orchestrated, calm pace till one morning, a jeep of cops came to interrogate Suleiman’s, Ali’s, Ashraf’s, and Asif’s fathers, as they were informed by Idris Miah, the prime suspect of the serial bomb episode, that they willingly participated in the jihad, allowing their sons to help Idris and his men make bombs. All the fathers were crestfallen, were instantly taken by surprise, lost speech, and were remanded in police custody immediately after.
The narrative bridges the gap between misconceptions about jihad and everyday ordinary life, making the theme relatable to a broader readership. The short stories collectively underscore the often-overlooked perspective of the ordinary middle class within the perilous world.
“What If” reads like sci-fi and holds the readers in a strong grip, inviting readers to ponder their lives and challenge societal norms that define value and worth. “Maxim took the newborn in his right arm, and rescuing Bertha from their predatory clasp, he jumped up to the vacuum and began to soar high up, flapping the wings hidden on his back, and they passed through the vacuum till they could land at a new land where a new colony of gendered people would exist, creating more babies and faring forward with new hope, new will and new charters of a new life.”
“Kanhaiya’s Ordeal” brings back the ordeals of the migrant labourers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The story highlights the philosophical underpinnings of the grim times, emphasising the transient nature of material wealth and the enduring value of intangible assets like memories and relationships. “Kanhaiya was about to board a launch, which would take them to the main headquarters. Nimmi and Munna were reluctant to leave, as they had a whale of a time with Sanju, Laxman, and Parvati. They broke into tears, whined, groaned, and protested. But they had to leave with their parents for Bade Chacha’s place. Bade Chahcha would be kind to them in the best of times, hopefully. Kanhaiya touched his brother’s shoulders, and Tulasi took the children in an embrace. They left; after all, a migrant labourer had to think of his livelihood. The launch sailed off, with a handful few.” Datta is a master raconteur; she regales her readers with these unique stories with twists in the tales.
“Does Love Really Matter?” engages the reader in a dialogue about their lives and societal constructs. The story forces a confrontation with the uncomfortable truth– in her quest to find love, Emilia risks being defined by her illusions about Pritam and eventually gets duped by his diabolical acts, thus inviting the readers to ponder their place within the delicate balance of true and fake love. The title is interesting and intriguing.
The titular story, “An Unshared Secret,” delves deeper into the psychological implications of holding on to ‘secrets’. It explores how identity and societal status are intertwined with what we own, and the sharing of secrets can lead to an existential crisis. Swapna had a dream of opening a music school in her para or locality. She told the narrator that she is a professional singer in a hotel in Hyderabad; however, the truth is that “she lived on prostitution”, which remained an ‘unshared secret’. An uncanny truth, no doubt.
Datta conjures poetry in prose from the abstraction of the pure movement of Swapna’s ‘unshared secret’. The writer’s astonishing grace, aesthetic elegance, and control of the language lend vibrancy to the distinctive and powerful story. Delicately lyrical in its interplay of truth and falsity, the short story is epic in telling a complex yet accessible story of human life and submission to it.
The intricately textured metaphors are a fascinating lesson in the art of short stories. Even after one closes the book, the stories reverberate. Hoping An Unshared Secret and Other Stories continues to mesmerise the readers at home and in the world.
Cover photo sourced by the reviewer
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