The Flowering of a Storyteller

Five Petals is the maiden book of blogger Chinmayee Gayatree Sahu. It is a collection of five short stories and is part of the ebook carnival organised by the blogchatter – the prominent blog aggregating platform of India.

Chinmayee is an MBA degree holder. After a stint in the corporate world she has taken up government service. It is nice and inspiring to know that she has kept up with her passion for reading and writing in spite of being a full time professional. She blogs regularly at Chinmayee’s Creations.

There is a saying that literature is the mirror of the society. Most of the stories in this collection justify this saying. Of course the author is not a mere mirror. She has brought her own unique points of view and insights which are usually missed by a casual observer.

If the book cover shows different types of petals, leaves and colours, the stories bring out different flavors of our society and relationships. Like the attractive book cover, all the stories are interesting too.

The very first story, ‘Life- a Roller coaster Ride’ is about illusions and shattered dreams. It is also about surmounting all odds in spite of setbacks. The author has taken life’s illusion to another level in a story that I would like the reader to discover for herself.

Keeping in tune with the current times ‘Quarantined with Family’ portrays how the permutation and combination of relationships undergo change when normal routine of the life is disturbed. Then of course there is this touchy story about sibling rivalries for the love of a grand parent. The author has also portrayed romantic love of different flavors.

In spite of some of the stories being realistic, all the stories are interesting to read. One of the stories brought me to the verge of tears. The entire book is a breezy read. Nevertheless it will make you to pause and ponder at many places. While reading I did make intentional stops to savour the flavours and then continued. You would wish the stories never ended.