scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomePageTurnerAfterword‘Loyal Stalkers’: A captivating read with lively conversations and subtle humour

‘Loyal Stalkers’: A captivating read with lively conversations and subtle humour

Follow Us :
Text Size:

Chimmi Tenduf-La has, yet again, managed to make the conventional seem anomalous.  

“In Colombo, everyone knows everyone and no one can hide,” certainly stands true in Chhimi Tenduf-La’s book, Loyal Stalkers. A collection of 15 stories, they are linked to each other in peculiar ways through strange connections shared by characters from each story. Readers will often find themselves going back and forth, trying to remember characters they came across in earlier stories – like clubbing together a jigsaw puzzle.

The stories include people from all walks of life. A 17-year-old girl who is forced to give up her infant for adoption, a teenage boy whose ambitious pursuit of a career in cricket leads to sexual abuse by his coach, a gym instructor. “Chin-up” Channa gets arrested for stalking his client and a young boy who is embarrassed of his modest upbringing and loving mother – the stories are relatable because of both the backgrounds of the characters and the situations they find themselves in.

Tenduf-La is a captivating read with lively conversations and subtle humour. However, the unpredictable twists may be tinged with some monotony as the reader attempts to deduce the story until the author brings in his classic unforeseen end. The author’s depiction of daily conversations and graphic descriptions of conventional surroundings only complement the characters that we would have come across in our own lives as well.

As the reader meets some characters more often in different stories, a kind of a time pyramid is built so as to elucidate the turn of events. While the book begins with a girl giving birth to a baby boy, the reader meets her several times in other stories – in the future. The reader sees characters grow from their teenage years to adulthood, which adds further to the enthralling read.

“Our people worry too much about what the neighbours think,” aptly explains why most characters find themselves involved in a constant battle against society and its assumptions about people deviating from tradition.  The close-knit community of Colombo is presented through gossip and often unexpected relations that exist between gangsters and gym instructors, security guards and celebrities.

The name, Loyal Stalkers, may seem ambiguous in the beginning but gradually, the reader is able to comprehend the kind of stalkers that exist within each story – whether it is “Coach Uncle” who assures Gayan will train in England while he attempts to sexually abuse him, or Aiyo, the dog, who remains Ashar’s loyal friend till the very end. Most importantly, Channa, who thinks he means well by hiding in Dilini’s house, tracking her every move. Chimmi Tenduf-La has, yet again, managed to make the conventional seem anomalous.

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular