REVIEW OF THE ‘KINDRED’ BY ALPNA DAS SHARMA

Writing a story within the parameters of a writing contest on a specified theme is a challenge unto itself. Dr Alpna Das Sharma, however, has met the challenge with a fair amount of individual and original creativity. The plot is credible and contemporary with ample scope for an emotions-rich narrative. The first-person narrator Anish reaches the depth of his family secret by retracing the path to the origin of his dilemma beginning 5 years ago and haunting him relentlessly all those years.

The mandatory 5 characters Alpna has evolved in the story are the narrator’s elder sister Anya, his parents, the house-keeper at their ancestral home, doctors at the surrogacy clinic, salesman at the bakery, manager of the orphanage and, of course, his twin sister Anamika. The delineation of these characters is objective, unbiased and realistic. His parents are representatives of a generation of post-independence Indians who moved from small towns to metros in search of their dreams and made it big. His reclusive but artistically talented sister Anya with her cynical and sinister sense of humour is the stereotypical representative of the global generation of disillusioned youth – questioning, questing and quarrelsome. Being a conscious party to the family secret of her parents’ decision to beget an offspring through surrogacy has hurt and embittered Anya deeply to shape her into an individual that she is. Her embitterment gets further intensified when her parents abandon the girl child begotten as a twin sibling in their surrogacy venture. In my assessment, she is the most authentic and realistic character in the story.

The resolution of a family secret and the author’s plot ends on a positive note. The reunion of separated twin siblings results in a deeper bonding between the two. The psycho-emotional dilemmas tormenting all the characters in the story are decisively resolved.

Dr Alpna Das Sharma has succeeded in convincing me that there is a real ‘Kindred Café’ in the outskirts of Mussoorie run by partially identical twins Anish and Anamika where I intend to dine one day when the pandemic is over!