Lifescapes: Telgu Short Stories in Translation

Naveen’s short stories encompass a wide spectrum of life. They reveal his insights into the intricacies of the psychological, social and political life of the Telugu people and lay bare the reality behind the manifest. The themes touched upon by him in this collection of short stories are so varied as to include the psychological conflicts experienced by the sensitive among us, exploitation of children and adolescents by unfeeling guardians and employers, violence in rural Telangana, the subhuman lives of beggars and subalterns, the ill-treatment regularly meted out to women within and outside marriage and the insensitivity of women themselves to the genuine needs of their men. That is indeed a mouthful of life to savour and mull over. Naveen creates a great variety of characters. He doesn’t suggest solutions [to problems]; he gives a comprehensive picture of them. It’s for us to take in as much of the picture as we want. —R.S. Sudarsanam Famous Writer and Critic