Crumpled Voices: a review

For a book of such calibre, I am truly very happy; for the name of the book fully justifies the content of the book. Crumpled Voices, the shades of suffering has a wonderful blend of short stories by different writers all woven into one full book of varied emotions and wonderful stories. This book is surely a must read for every reader and not only for readers but also for everyone! Kudos to the cover designer for designing such an enchanting cover.

According to the blurb: Crumpled Voices – Shades of Suffering is a collection of short stories based on social issues. A common thread of the prevailing societal evils and injustice binds them together. This anthology comes directly from heart and life. These days, humanity is suffering to such an extent that we found it difficult to stay quiet. So, this is our small beginning towards awakening the masses.

The fiction level is nil as each day we all witness horrendous crimes like Rapes, Acid Attacks, Domestic Violence, Honour Killings, etc. We all have been a witness to such heinous crimes in our day to day life, our near and dear ones might have experience them closely too. We have almost grown up among them, felt them following us. We constantly live in fear of the unknown, fear of being the victim to any of the criminal activities multiplying around us. These days when no place is safe, including the web, our voices need to be heard.

Protest must begin from somewhere, and we have used our pen which is mightier than the sword to express our anguish. An echo of many unimaginable atrocities lurks within us, engulfing us in its shadow. Through each of the story in this book, we have tried to highlight one such aspect of horrifying crimes. This is an initiative that can also work as a boost up for all those who have been suffering but have chosen to stay quiet so far.

Down the Way by Ila Garg is a poem stating a very important message towards our society. When numerous trees are being cut, this poem will make the readers understand what a tree feels. Good work by the poetess.

Second in the list is another story by Ila Garg named This is Who I am. Our society is a bit reluctant when it comes to the topic of homosexuality. In this story the author described what it feels to be neglected and humiliated because of being attracted towards the same sex.

Karma Returns by Pulkit Gupta is the next. How the happy marriage life of Devika and Rajesh changed and they chose the divorce as the only option is the story all about. An usual story with an unusual ending.

Tania Srivastava’s The Last Whisper is a story of a woman named Shalini. The story goes on how she kept her mouth shut and absorbed the humiliation from her husband. The gripping narrating style makes this story a must read.

Next on the list is It is Honourable by Abhik Chakraborty. This debut author has chosen a very delicate topic to write about. Honour killing is a topic that not everyone is familiar with but this story will make readers feel the pain of the sister. One of the best of the series.

Abhishek ‘Atul’s The Curious Case of Missing Brahmins couldn’t able to make justice towards its name. The story is a bit boring at time and can drop the speed of the book. How Keshav describes what we are lacking today and how he proved to be a true Brahmin is the main prospect of the story.
 

Seventh story of the book is Color of a Butterfly by PromillaQazi. The author has a wonderful story telling skill that cover up the flaws of the story line. A nice name for a story like this. The will make readers gasp for more.

Smita Salins has jotted down an influential story in the next named, Indira’s Story. The readers can easily visualize everything by the effortless narrating style of the author. The way Indira leads her life after so much struggle is something every reader will look forward to.

The Corrupt Me by Nitesh Chitranshi says about our inner self, how we should change ourselves first before shouting for changing the system. The author presented the message by a simple story to make it easy for the readers.

Sreelekha Chatterjee’s simple and catchy narrating style will grab the reader’s attention in her story The Fatal Pride. The name suits the story perfectly. Kudos to the author for telling the story in such a wonderful way.

Prachi Priyanka’ The Paradise is a about a girl but not of her sufferings. This story stands alone from the crowd because of its different prospect. To know what happened when a husband started to notice the different side of her wife, one should read the story.

Nature’s Revenge by Shruti Mall is the next story where nature takes revenge in his own way. Parihar lost everything in exact same way he snatched those from someone, what we called poetic justice. A nice framed plot.

She Was Raped is a poem by NitinSoni which says how our country is suffering. This poem perfectly suits the theme of the book and the quality of the poet takes this book to a new level. Wonderfully chosen words and the message which lies beneath the poem will take readers heart.

Harsh RaiPuri has chosen a very effective name for his story, The Crescendo of a Grand Symphony.
The storyline is so good that it will bring a smile on readers face at the ending. The author has manage to juggle between past and present quite efficiently but at some point it gets confusing.

A Letter to God by Sandeep Sharmais the fifteenth story of the book. This story helps to maintain the flow of the book. The story of a ten year old girl will definitely take readers attention and the well-crafted words will make this story on of the best.

Nibha Gupta’s Eighteenth Birthday says about the bond between sisters. How one sister look after her sister without informing her about her existence and consumed all the wrath herself is the main storyline. A bit predictive but nice plot.

The Indecent Profession by Durgesh Shastri tells about the return of the karma. This story will teach the readers that your karma will hunt you down and will punish you for sure. The end of the story is the most interesting part.

Shrruti Patole Clarence has presented the way to fight back in her story Light. After facing thosedreadful crimes one should fight for his/her justice rather than cursing the fate and society. A well-needed message in a book like this.

Ketaki Sane has perfectly given name to this story Freedom. Our inhuman society bounds us, especially when it comes to a girl. The author narrated the story in a very soothing way that readers going to complete the story in one go and would enjoy the deserved freedom of the protagonist.

Gayatri Aptekar’s A Second Chance is a story about two different girls. How they became victim because of the society and how one girl helps the other to avail the rare second chance is why the readers going to love the story.

The Newspaper Reader by Chandrapal Khasiya questions us on the unbearable headlines of the newspaper in the voice of a 12 year old. The end will bring tears in their eyes and will appreciate the author for the storyline.

Together We Can Make a Difference by Priyanka Bansal is the next on the list. One more important topic was brought forward by this author in a very delightfully framed story. A girl fought for her mother and tries to make the society aware of the deadly HIV+.

Priyanka Bansal took the responsibility to end the book with her poem Don’t Decolorize Me and have done proper justice to that. The author very efficiently portrays her message by a tragic poem. This is how a book like this should end. 

There is no perfect time for raising our voices toward our inhuman society or our corrupted system and this anthology has taken the initiative to make the youth speak, to make people aware of those horrendous crimes. Each and every story has different message and a different tale to tell. Judging the book in overall, I would like to give this book a 4.5 out of 5.