Book Review  By Harsimran Kaur | Rating: 4/5

‘Red Fire Blue Smoke’ is a collection of children’s short stories, full of adventure, certitude of spirit, a dogged courage to achieve the unachievable. The stories that they are, immersive and inspiring, expand magnanimously from the tiny village of Narang to Thekkady forest of Kerela spiralling magic around the confluence of rivers; Deopani, Difula and Dhansiri, and the tales emerging out of it are awestruck. Not to miss, the beautiful Sunderbans that carry the charm of trapped mysteries.

There is an empowering magnetism around the stories. The unrestrained waves glide back & forth; their intemperate desire to behold the eternity, and then as the waves ricochet towards the sandbank, it looks as if the desire to get back to the vast expanse of the ocean is a matter of believability, and illusion to many but turns out to be an intrepid wonder.

Thus, the sea, the ocean carry stories. The waves propel the sea creatures to dance calisthenic and then they return to the imposing yet primordial unconscious. The oar cuts the nakedness of the sea, the boat gesticulating; not firm, then I may ask aren’t our desires incoherent too like the invading boat, and isn’t the nature’s thoughtful creations absolutely magical? Such are the stories of the sea.

One such story from the collection is ‘Sea Change’. It is a tale of a boy called Suraj who encounters the rebellion of the southern wind, and because of his defiance, is taken into captivity by the Whale King.

Will such imprisonment turn out to be an awakening for Suraj, or will it turn out to be an epiphany to understand the ways of the sea?

And, through such a story, there are certain revelations one must delve into. What must prevail is a sense of grounding & humility whether it’s the sea, the ocean, the sky or the land; there must exist cognizance of interconnected belonging.

‘Treasure’ is one of the stories that I personally like; story of Danish and his accumulated treasure. It reflects on human integrity; the chasm between ‘being truthful’ & the self-deserving reflux. It’s about his mystical relationship with the Leopard Snow God who teaches him the virtue of keeping a promise.

Can Danish’s honesty & the will to do hardwork lead him to a life that he has always dreamt of? And, if one were to reflect in the ways of life, there are moments when one loses the rectitude to stand in probity, and deceit becomes the only way out, and what is achieved through such measures is bleak pride and exhausted darkness.

Both ‘Rizwan’ and ‘Danish’ receive treasure but does it turn out to be a pyrrhic victory?

Adding more vibrancy to the stories are the aesthetic visuals that are vividly orchestrated. I feel that children learn & grasp better through visual images as it broadens their mind to reflect on ‘what more can be compounded out of what is visible.’ The images, impeccable, are strict in their relevance to the respective stories.

Thoughtfully written and envisaged, all the stores form a perspective. ‘Rockstar’ is inspiring; the ‘elephant’ truly is the rockstar.

It gives insight into such heroism that is mind-driven, not just conjuring magic or riding on solipsism. The elephant, ‘Yamir’ truly emerges as a rockstar inspite of the wooded hill animals using perfidy to denounce him. And then I must say that a self-perspective mind is a lethal weapon to mutilate any chicanery, and thus lead one to an imperishable victory.

‘Blue Smoke’ is extra-ordinary. It’s full of magic drizzled with smoke. The magic instilled in Stampy’s horn, the rhino, is capable to ward off any ambiguity, any irritability and more so, he turns out to be a saviour as if the divine spirit has been called to protect the natural habitat. That is Stampy—courageous and full of integrity.

It is to be seen now how he finds the culprits who are on the verge of depriving the rivers of their natural flow?

After reading ‘Blue Smoke; I hear an echo of entendre,

‘The magic can be powerful, to create either harmony or sabotage the already thriving habitat. The fragility thus makes ‘Blue Smoke’ an enchanting, thought-provoking story.

The author, Haimanti Mitra, is articulate and puts together tales that reach distant areas of India and gather their essence, and how beautifully she has captured the peculiarity of each animal, bird that further tells the story around the nuances of life. The emotions although amorphous tune in their existential capacity to be kind, brave, remorseful, complacent, and along with it there is magic; a kind of revelatory appearance to revivify the ordinary.

There is another beautiful story, ‘Starstruck’ where we see emotions unhindered when Pakhi, the Kingfisher, is obliged to handover the magical animals to the Eagle King, but she is a bit fearful, a bit apprehensive around the safety of animals, and thus is preponderant of what to do. But is there something she will get in return from the Eagle King? A collection of stories that she would finally covet.

Such emotional anchorage; the concern is truly an adventure of its kind—to be helpful, yet mindful. And above all, there is a magical twist which has its way to transform, to curl a storm, and thus magic unfolds, whirls, tosses & turns and in the end turns out to be a rare spectacle of compassionate mind.

The final story of the collection is ‘Flicker’– a mesmerizing story, as if the entire expanse is full of illusions, a kind of a dream cascading into oblivion and then coming out daringly, and it feels we are all magicians and our dreams are magic, and the rhythmic cadence of screams, shrieks & shrivels in a dream is nothing but upholding the true encounters with anonymity. Moyna feels the same. She defeats the ‘flicker flames’ that in cruel obstinacy are ready to destroy the land by drowning it in the sea.

Such is the believability of the little girl, if we may call it courage or faith, that nothing even the becoming of hell or heavy waters can disrupt her intention to the protect the inhabitants. Will she be successful? 

The beauty of these stories is the poetic presentation of the magic spells. An arabesque of poetic parlance, and it comes right at the time where mysticism must conquer the naivety of the mind. Beautifully etched and deeply dramatic, the poetry in every story passes through a curatorial enlightenment.

The stories thus are a deep dive into adventure, magic and valour.