Summary

Monsoon is a collection of twelve short stories varying in themes set in the times when Goa was a Portuguese Colony of India.

The themes vary as much as the emotions in each of these stories that discuss and reflect on the caste system, religious bias, language barriers, and privilege of superiority and property.

My Review

The stories include those of the return of a man to India from Africa to get married and bear children in an affluent family. Another one discusses a man who returns from Portugal after his studies but feels out of place back in his family.

But my favorite was the first one titled Nattak – that got me into reading the whole series. Although I didn’t like the rest of the stories as much as the first one I would rate about 4 to 5 stories 4 stars. Nattak was about an actor of drama meeting a young girl who in the end turns out to be his half-sister.

But what I admired in all the stories was the detailing of the characters and the simplicity of the stories.

Final Verdict

Overall I think it was a fascinating glimpse into a pre-independence colonial society that is very different from the British Raj that was then the major rule influence in India.

Who Should Read This

Short story lovers will enjoy this peep into the mindset of an era gone by.

Top Quotes from Monsoon

• Time rolls on like an unchanging river that no obstacle can divert from its course.

• The old ways are obeyed, pride is maintained and arrogance preens itself.

• No father can rest easy until he’s married his daughters into a good family and set them up for life.