Flashback: Objects, Memories and the Art of Storytelling

Objects become lifelong companions and lives become intertwined with them in myriad ways. What do objects tell us as they kindle and caress our memories? Do they divulge stories about themselves and the times and places they belonged to? Can they help unravel the pasts they preserve, of good times and bad? Seventeen authors explore these possibilities by teasing out different strands and layers of memories that objects trigger, unwinding them and in the process laying bare myriad lives and many individual journeys. How far have they been able to trace back the roots and how long have journeys been followed, how much of the pasts are possible to retrieve and how much are lost, comprise the narratives and their singular feature. Time serves as the conduit for emotions to be teased out from the crevices of personal reminiscences. The anthology is a rich repository of family history -accounts of people navigating lives through challenges posed by political and social upheavals, fascinating expose of lives richly lived or agonizingly suffered. The stories of ordinary people give a human face to historical moments. Every story holds prospects for longer and more complete narratives, plugging gaps that recorded history is often unable to do. The presence of the author in every story makes it personal and poignant.