Still Loved, Still Missed by Mridula | Book Review

There is a saying that it is easier to give a bitter pill covered with sweet substance. I think this can be applied to moral teachings as well. Most people hate to receive and accept advice from others. But when such teachings come in the form of a story with a moral counsel or a warning, they are very effective. The human mind likes to derive its own conclusions rather than accepting someone else’s 🙂

Recently, we came across a collection of short stories by Dr. Mridula. These are stories of subtle feelings that talk about the age old cycle of life including birth, aging, survival, and death. A self-proclaimed nemophilist, Dr. Mridula is clearly a nature lover, who enjoys the forests and greenery. She has a doctorate in agricultural sciences and has been publishing her short stories since her award winning debut in 2012.

“Still Loved, still Missed” is available on Kindle as an e-book and I got a chance to read it for Team Thinkerviews. So, let me share my thoughts on this book with you all…

Your absence has gone through me
Like a thread through a needle
Everything I do is stitched with its colour.
-W S Mervin

This collection comprises of fifteen short stories, and as you may have guessed from the title of the collection, the central idea through these stories is dealing with some sort of loss.
We begin with the feelings of a sepal that gives birth to a flower only to feel neglected afterwards, meet a para-glider who loses her life on her very first flight, see a heart-broken son burying his dog near his parents’ graves, a dog rescuing a kitten from snow only to have it taken away by humans – in the first four stories.

The story Still Loved, Still Missed is written from the perspective of a bamboo coracle. While of extreme importance to villagers wanting to cross the river, it loses its place once a bridge is built across the river and drowns of negligence.

“Hunger” re-spins the tale of spider who traps a long-term friend in the web. “Bluebells in the woods” will remind you of European fairy tales while “Wedding Memories” takes you into Californian forest.

‘And Quiet Flew the Little Birds…’ is a story of a nature loving environmentalist connecting with orphans. In other stories, we meet an outwardly happy man on verge of the foreign trip with a little secret, an old man journeying in the night to meet his lost love, and finally a couple who separate after 30 years of marriage.

Some stories have a little surprise/twist at the end, but all have something to share with the reader…

We approached this collection with a lightness in mind after reading through the introductory sections and these stories didn’t disappoint. Written from perspectives of a variety of narrators – both human and non-human and quite poetic in language and nature, the stories are filled with quotes, sayings and verses of well-known poetry from various sources.

Even though they deal with serious subject matters like how all children forget the efforts made by their parents once they grow up, or the self-driven nature of the world where everything is valued based only on its usefulness on the day and how friendships or relationships crumble under the force of survival instinct, they retain that simplicity of narration. There are a few stories focusing on loss of life partners, children or pets. These also show how the form of love changes with time amongst family members and how sometimes we fail to understand the thoughts of our loved ones.

Although most stories are about a loss, there is also a glimmer of hope in these situations, and in a couple of stories, it is not an end, but a new beginning. Life may end at any point, but we need to keep chasing our dreams, so if we die, at least we lived a full life doing something we loved.

The narratives of these stories are simple, and often told in first person. As usual, here are some samples of the little quotes and one-liners we enjoyed and would like to share:

Some souls continue to love even after death…
“Hunger has always been strong enough to question moralities.
— — — —
Age mellows some people. Others it makes rotten.
— — — —
When the mind is disturbed, just let it be. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in an effort to soothe it down. It will happen as effortless sensation.

Summary:

All in all, a lovely book to enjoy when you have an hour or two to spare and feel like something you would like to read slowly and think through. We are sure these stories will remind you of similar ones of your own and bring back memories of loved ones you cherish.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy Book From Amazon India – Paperback
• Buy Book From Amazon India – Kindle Ebook
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Kindle Ebook

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