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Narrative is a hundred percent reader-supported. If you love what you’re reading, please make a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Your gift of $60 or more includes a 1-year Backstage Pass with special features and exclusive previews.
Thank you for this story.
I passed quickly through the havoc that is Hospet on my way to the temples and boulders and of nearby Hampi. All the tourists and backpackers pass through quickly, unable to comprehend, if they even notice at all, the tent towns that line the road on the way into the city. You catch a glimpse, a flash, of homes and lives beneath blue tarp but how can we know anything beyond that unless someone can bring its bleak and all too prevalent truth alive for us?
I don’t know how you did it, but this is one of the more memorable longish short stories I’ve read in perhaps thirty years of enjoying the form. What a rollicking good read! I worried at first that the narration seemed to be bounding along at a pace that lent itself to some probably unintended unevenness, but then I got the flavor--or at least I think I did--and I couldn’t get enough of the speed. And that last line? Wow!
Well done. You so clearly deserve your success with this story.
Wow. Amazing work. Great pacing, detail, just the right formulations of description, and deceptively simple. Each of the characters, even the minor ones, are brought to life almost immediately. And the narrative, which could go in so many directions, takes unexpected turns. Thank you for an enjoyable, inspiring, and extremely moving read.
This is really an incredible story. I travelled through Hospet, on my way to Hampi of course, when I was in India for about 5 months. Stories like this can be the only chance for an outsider to even consider the nuances of other people's lives when there are such cultural differences. It's like you can see through all the walls you pass by as a traveller or foreigner, and it takes the edge off not really being able to have conversations with many people (for language barriers and other reasons) you see on your way. I felt like that about White Tiger too. This was just fabulous to read and experience.