A review of A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short Stories. - JPCS

Journal of Postcolonial Cultures and Societies
ISSN (USA): 1948-1845 (Print), 1948-1853 (Electronic
A review of A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short Stories.
A.N.Dwivedi
Ed. Mohammad A. Quayum. Singapore: Marshal Cavendish Editions, 2010, pp. 328.
This anthology of twenty-five short-stories offers, as the title suggests, “a rainbow feast” to
readers of English fiction. It consists of stories drawn from different Asian authors representing
different Asian nations and cultures. Some of these authors are presently living in Australia, the
UK, the USA, and the United Arab Emirates. The selection of stories is based on merits and a
certain standard laid down by its seasoned editor, Professor Mohammad A. Quayum of the
International Islamic University, Malaysia. Of nearly, 140 stories that he had received, 25 have
made the final list. (p.16).
A very interesting “Introduction” is given at the very outset of the book; it runs into
fifteen pages and traces the initiation of English into the Indian subcontinent and the Malayan
Peninsula about some two hundred years ago when the British wanted to establish an
“imperishable empire” (p.11). Gradually, yet steadily, English grew in depth, dimension and
creative range in countries like Indian, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan,
Japan, China and the Phillipines. Of these various countries, India has the largest share of
imaginative literature produced by such eminent writers as Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo,
Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao, Salman Rushdie, Anita Desai, Amitav Ghosh,
Vikram Seth, Arundhati Roy, and Jhumpa Lahiri. Other Asians of great reputation are: Bapsi
Sidhwa, Hanif Kureishi and Tariq Ali (all Pakistanis); Adib Khan, Kaiser Haq and Taslima
Nasreen (all Bangladeshis), Chitra Fernando and Yasmine Gooneratne (both from Sri Lanka);
Nick Joaquin, F. Sionil Jose and Jose Dailsay, Jr. (all from the Phillipines); Edwin Thumboo and
Gopal Baratham (from Singapore); and Llyod Fernando, K.S. Maniam and Shirley Geok-lin Lim
(all from Malaysia). But here in this brilliant anthology, the focus is on new, talented and prizewinning
writers of younger generation. Some of these writers include Fawzia Afzal-Khan,
Damayanti Ghosh, Farah Ghuznavi, Pool Hwang, Abha Iyengar, Munize Manzur, Dipika
Mukherjee, O. Thiam Chin, George Polley (an American settled in Japan). Chitra Sankaran,
Barnali Sha, Qaisar Sahraz, and Monideep Sahu. The stories of these writers and some others
ring changes on different themes.
Many of the stories included here explore the complex relationships between men and
women (p.19). two stories, at least, focus on father-daughter relationship (as Damayanti Ghosh’s
“Maya Niwas” and Paoi Hwang’s “Dying Wish)”. Similarly, Mother-son relationship forms the
nucleus in Farah Ghuznavi’s “Waiting”. Husband-wife relationship in its intricacies and
“A review of A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short Stories,” A.N.Dwivedi
JPCS, Vol. 2, No 3, July 2011. http://www.jpcs.in
96

Journal of Postcolonial Cultures and Societies
ISSN (USA): 1948-1845 (Print), 1948-1853 (Electronic
sensitivities occupy the central stage in many of these stories; for example, Fayeze Hasant’s
“Green Card”, Razia Sultana Khan’s “Seduction”, Lau Siew Mei’s “Passion’s Fruit in the
Flowerbed”, Dipika Mukherjee’s “Baby’s Breath”, Chitra Sankaran’s “Alone and Palely
Loitering”, Barnali Saha’s “The Gambler”, Qaisra Shahraz’a “The Zemindar’s wife”, and
Veerena Tay’s “Broken”. There are, then, some interesting stories in this anthology that expose
the evils of patriarchy (p.20); for instance, Saud Khatab Ali’s “The Subjugated Ones”, Razia
Khan’s “Seduction”, Dipika Mukherjee’s “Baby’s Breath”, and Verena Tay’s “Broken”.
This collection of short stories has rich variety in content and compactness in form.
Many stories are unified in plot, but Lan Siew Mei’s “Passion’s Fruit in the Flowerbed” is patchy
and fragmented and Prof. Quayum even calls it “a post-modern story”(p.22). Keeping in mind
the vast variety, subtle complexity, and imaginative fecundity of the stories contained in this
collection, we can really say that here’s “a rainbow feast” that can cater to the taste of readers of
every mood and shade of thought. The editor has demonstrated his discretion to choose the best
stories at hand, and he must be complimented for performing this task excellently.
Biography
Professor A.N. Dwivedi, an award winning poet and critic, has to date published about 100
research articles in local and international journals and a dozen books of literary criticism, three
books of translation and four books of poetry. His collections of poetry are: Random Reflections
(New Delhi: BRPC, 1994), Fine Frenzy (Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1998), Protest Poems
(Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 2002) and Beyond Borders (New Delhi: Adhyayan Publishers,
2008)
Book details: A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short Stories, Ed. Mohammad A. Quayum.
Singapore: Marshal Cavendish Editions, 2010, pp. 328.
“A review of A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short Stories,” A.N.Dwivedi
JPCS, Vol. 2, No 3, July 2011. http://www.jpcs.in
97