Author Siniwali's recently published book “Gulabi Nadi ki Machhaliyan” is a collection of nine stories that highlight the different aspects of rural life.
Whenever we think about a typical Indian village, a beatific picture of peace surfaces in our mind: happy people, rippling ponds, greenery, and innocence. But the reality is so different. The villages of India are beset with the same evils that have haunted the country for ages: caste and class differences, economic inequalities, illiteracy, superstition, and religious divides.
The villages are now faced with another problem; that is of old people abandoned to fend for themselves. Now there are many villages where most of the youth have gone forever in search of green pastures.
In this collection, published by Antika Prakashan, different problems of rural areas have been depicted in detail. Her earlier book “Hans Akela Roya” was also focused on rural life. In this collection, rural India is again at the center, and each of his stories brings some serious and contemporary topics to the center of discussion.
Commenting on the book, well-known Hindi author Maitreyi Pushpa writes, “In the guise of the democratic system, not only cities, but the villages are also victims of conspiracies, by their own people. If any man does not refrain from being ruined due to his hollow assumptions, then he does not even hesitate in polluting the environment. A large number of the villagers are being subject to greed and by doing this, they put all the healthy rules on hold. The writer (Siniwali) is seeing all these things and is reflecting these in her stories...”
The author observes closely rural life and brings to the fore the problems of the village, its tricks, and its complexities.
Take the example of a beautiful love story- “Gulabi Nadi Ki Machhaliyan” which is the title story of the book. The writer has tried to capture the fulfillment of love and the trauma of separation in this touching story.
“Dulha Babu” is about getting older without getting married. Later, the difficulties of the boy who is going to be the groom bring in some comic relief to the readers. . “Apne Log” is another story included in the collection. It is a story of a young man who ran away from home to the metropolis because of his father’s abusive behavior. People, who go to big cities in search of work from the village, spend a large part of their meager income on food and shelter.
Similarly “Rahaun Kant Hoshiyar” is another important story in the collection which is based against the backdrop of villages being hit by pollution. Sadly, only a handful of villagers are serious about solving this problem.
