Author- Vinod Kumar Shukla
Translator- Satti Khanna
“Once it Flowers” by Vinod Kumar Shukla is a simple story about a village. This book is translated from hindi by Satti Khanna. Vinod Kumar Shukla is known for his simple yet charming style of writing. His works have been awarded & his one of the novel has been made into a movie.This book depicts several incidences & happenings in the life of people who live in this village.
The book revolves around the life of Guruji who is a school teacher. His life gets totally changed when a lightening storm blows the roof off a schoolhouse. He, his wife & his children used to live in the school building of the village. After the thunderstorm, Guruji’s family seeks shelter at the substation of the village. The strong wind followed by the rain affected the life of many villagers. The story also includes several other characters . Such as, Jivrakhan & his wife Derahin, watchman, Guruji’s kids munna & munni, the stationmaster, the tea owner at the railway station and the tailor .
The Author describes about day to day experiences of the inhabitants of village. Their stories basically deal with the basic needs & the requirements of a human’s life. Such as, food, shelter, family’s necessities , relationships & many more. Each & every chapter in the book reveals simple realities of life. For example, Everflowingness belongs to the clan of time. In stillness, there’s continuation. The water that continuously drops down a fall is everflowing.
In this village indigence & deprivation were common. The book also describes the difficulties that Guruji’s family faced. Such as, Guruji’s son Munna falls sick if he remains hungry for even a short period of time. His family constantly take care of it & be cautioned and aware of Munna getting unwell. Likewise, Jivrakhan was also an inhabitant of the village who owns a shop. His wife Derahin who enjoys listening radio because nothing else can fill the emptiness & desolation in her life. Later, their life takes many twists & turns. Everything is as real & actual as it is illusionary.
The author portrayed the simple lifestyle of the folks in village. The Author was successful in revealing each & every detail about the places, the situations & conditions of the people. The straightforward & the simple style of writing is praiseworthy. In the book, the author explained about the hardships & challenges that were faced by the people living in village. Their stories clearly represent the way of living of people. The kind of settlement, development, habits, & state of people are evidently illustrated by the author. The book is an extraordinary imaginative re-creation of modern India.
For me, this was an interesting read. The book holds various characters that were certainly very influential. And through these simple tales, one can grasp the prominent details about sustainability & real life. The way how these village people encountered each & every problem was noteworthy. I liked the way how author has mingle the flavors of emotions & sentiments of the inhabitants of village. The numerous quotes mentioned above each chapter of the book were beautiful & captivating. The figment of imagination has added on to the remarkable storyline of the book. I liked the author’s exceptional style of writing. It was striking & can able to hold the interest of the readers.
Rating- 4/5
Reviewer- Shivani Chauhan