‘The Grave Exhumers and Other Stories’: A close-up of Muslim lives outside Kolkata’s urban premises

The stories in The Grave Exhumers and Other Stories by Lutfor Rahaman were written when he was 21 years old. To be 21 and have such a deep-rooted grasp of the colour, habitation, geography, and taste of the air is remarkable to witness. And what’s more impressive is the fact that translator Mursed Alam has managed to get these details and idiosyncrasies without diluting them.

Comprising six short stories, the collection zeroes down on death in some or the other form. For instance, even a seemingly optimistic story (at least by the title) called “Collectors of Hope”, starts thus: “Sohrab lost the job, finally!”

A world on the margins

Death looms over the reader like a crow perched on an ever-drying branch. Through death, Rahaman manages to construct a world on the margins, all set in a village on the outskirts of Kolkata. The stories become important because they provide a foil to the canonical Bengali literature – the Tagores and the Chattopadhyays – and take us down to the cellular level of the lives of Muslim communities in rural areas.

Reading Rahaman’s world is like stepping into something new. His protagonists, who are mostly poor Muslim inhabitants, are always facing some or another obstacle. And, while you’re reading, you might think...

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