Hook, Line & Sinker.
Once again I have the good luck to receive Chhimi
Tenduf-La's latest book as a gift. A gift that puts a smile on my face for more
than one reason.
I turn the first page and I am taken aback. This is a
totally different story from his first book, The Amazing Racist...but
then I start to read and there it is - the easy style of fluid words that seem
to pour forth with ease from this author. Chhimi has a way with words that one
could say hooks you and holds you captive to his tale.
‘Now I see you sitting
in the corner of Grade Three, knees drawn to your chest. You’ve never been in a
sauna, I know that, but this is what it’s like. The sun heats up the tin roof
above you, so you sweat till your muddy t-shirt is drenched, but still your
teeth chatter. You shiver. It’s fear, it’s sadness, it’s anger.’
‘Prabu squatted, his
backside just half an inch off the sand, his arms hugging his
burnt-matchstick-like legs. To his right, a girl, maybe his age, likely Tamil,
plaited hair and frisky eyebrows, selling Frangipani flowers to tourists.’ - Panther
It seems he is an author capable of adding humour to any
situation, which is not that easy to do and yet, from the moment you turn the
first page you are caught hook, line and sinker. You just can’t put the book
down. Now there are some books that are good and others that are
slower...however Chhimi Tenduf-La writes in such an easy and captivating style
that, you don’t feel like placing a book mark in your book, to read it later.
You just feel like you really need to read one more page and then another and
another, until you have read the whole book.
I can only compare this feeling to an addiction of sorts.
The feeling one has when they have strange urges, unbearable longings and
insatiable desires.
Yes ! he is a writer that unlike others, totally relaxes
your mind as you read. I will be honest and say I would generally not read
books that even remotely revolved around our Sri Lankan war memories...yet
Panther paints many pictures, amidst the facts, that tell a tale. This is not
just a story but it’s a story with a morale, a message and flavour...yes ! once
again Chhimi Tenduf-La has given us a winner!
Panther has a lot of interesting twists and turns but the
subtle twist at the end is the one I liked best.
Ps: Not giving that away...Panther is well worth
reading to find that out for yourself.
