Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rahti Thi (Hindi Edition)

Vinod Kumar Shuklas novel contains no great event, no monumental struggle, no epochal truth, no purpose, or message. It presents life, the life of this country, which, for lack of a more appropriate term, is called lower-middle-class, so purely that it needs no backstory. There are no villains, but the simplicity of the main characters existence, their helplessness, the sparse details of their lives, their comings and goings, and their livelihoods, automatically reveal the cruel counter-world that makes life the way it is for the majority of people in this country. Vinod Kumar Shukla delves deeply into this life, establishing such an unwavering faith in relationships with marriage, family, neighborhood, workplace, and affectionate non-relatives that all the absent, inimical forces seem not only ugly but hollow. A pleasant surprise is that nature, with its water, rocks, mountains, forests, trees, animals, birds, sunrises, sunsets, moons, winds, colors, scents, and sounds, is more present in this novel than it has ever been since Phanishwarnath Renus fiction. For those who thought that Vinod Kumar Shukla, despite his human affection, shied away from love between men and women, or that it was beyond his capacity, this novel will prove a shock. Avoiding exhibitionism, he has depicted sensuality, fleshiness, sex, and adornment in such a way that, without being provocative, he enriches the soul with the beauty of this primal relationship. They are not tacked on but are utterly natural. Without them, this novel would be incomplete, unbelievable, and barren. The surprising thing is that this physicality is absent from his poetry.-Vishnu Khare