« Call for Political Fiction: Don Ron Books | Main | Roy's new Fiction book! »
February 13, 2007
Stories from Calcutta's Chinatown
In The Palm Leaf Fan and Other Stories Kwai Yun Li chronicles growing up in 1920's Calcutta.
Here is an excerpt
A year after he stepped off the ship at Kidderpore, Father opened his first shoe shop, John Hing, at 75, Bentinck Street. Two years later, he opened his second shop at 86, Bow Bazaar Street. Three years after that, he opened his third in shop 26, New Market.
The summer of 1942 was hot and dry, the monsoon late in coming. Calcuttans chose between sleepless nights indoors, drenched in sweat, or sleepless nights on rooftops and verandahs, bothered by mosquitoes and flies.
Mother sat outside John Hing, with a glass of lassi and a palm leaf fan. She waved her fan at Mrs. Wong. Mrs. Wong sat in front of her shoe shop, Yun Fa, with her five daughters. Mrs. Wong waved back.
Bentinck Street, a narrow cobbled road, linked the business district of Bow Bazaar with the shopping district of Chowringhee. That afternoon, cars, trucks, rickshaws, and trams jammed Bentinck Street. Vendors wandered beside cars selling sugarcane juice, boiled potatoes, cucumber in masala, roasted peanuts. Beggars wandered between the cars, stopping to beg for coins and food.
read rest here
Here is a review from India Currents
Kwai-Yun Li’s parents (of Hakka Chinese descent) emigrated to a small alley in Calcutta called Chattawalla Gali. These collected short stories (and the short ones are truly concise, six to eight pages), reflect on the marginalized Chinese community that Kwai-Yun Li grew up in, without a trace of over-sentimentality or learned helplessness. Li has now settled in Canada, and these stories reveal her early years in India.
read rest here
Posted by Soniah Kamal at February 13, 2007 06:54 AM
Comments
Posted by: Anonymous at February 13, 2007 06:54 AM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)