Engrossing, crisp and deeply thought provoking, each of the 101 stories in Dr. Varghese Mathai’s The Village Maestro and 100 Other Stories takes the reader on a spiritual journey across nations, civilizations, centuries and faiths, and yet, delicately ends each trip in a search within oneself.
‘The classroom has been my village,’ says Dr. Mathai, as he introduces the collection to the reader. His effortless narration brings the world into this village in the form of allegories which, as he says, were meant to be ‘class openers,’ or starters to the classes he taught. The collection is ‘…a treasure trove of moral stories, virtuous lessons, sermonic support material,’ says Jerry B. Cain, Chancellor of Judson University, Elgin, Illinois, ‘and inspirational reading for a multicultural audience.’
The stories are very short, just a few are a little more than a thousand words. But their effect on the reader stays on for a long, long time, with the power to make us take a look at our own lives and how meaningfully and selflessly we are living these lives.
There is little that these parable-like stories leave untouched. The tales meander through instances in both ancient and recent history, politics, science, philosophy, religion, astronomy, medicine, lore and legends, human behaviour and characteristics, even suicides, teenaged motherhood, and cannibalism. Smoothly intertwining physics with spirituality, Dr. Mathai says, ‘…the human soul is equipped with enormous “leverage” to connect to the seat of cosmic power’. And in the course of such meandering, the author’s casual, brisk, yet captivating style of narration picks yarns out of the most impactful from even random and otherwise everyday tales to weave these into fabrics of immense learning and insight. The stories even make the reader ponder over ‘unblessable areas of life’. However, it is spirituality that surges to the fore through all of the varied themes in these narratives.
Throughout the narratives, their appealing style belies the notion that little tales of wisdom and spirituality often lack wit. Consider this – he says of the Amazon thus, ‘The river had been in business probably for millennia…’. Or this – ‘…the State didn’t have to look far for a ready wet nurse’, which he says of a Haitian refugee who gives birth in the waters while illegally approaching the coast of Florida in a crowded rowboat that eventually capsizes. Then there are tales like Don’t worry, Mama is praying, that every mother would relate to, that warm the cockles of every loving and yearning heart and that strengthen faith and hope. ‘Mothers are major power brokers’, so he says. Little wonder that garnished with humor, love and inspiration, the tales catch on with the young and old, teacher and taught,and all others alike.
What is also unique to the stories is that each of them contains an intriguing and catchy line or phrase that charmingly holds within it the essence of the whole story and may as well pass off for a beautiful quote by itself. Dr. Mathai has thus very skillfully wrapped in his book not only moral values, life skills and lessons that touch almost every aspect that is an essential part of human existence and thereby of human character, but also motivating quotes that would give teaching and learning that extra edge. This he does by observing events from the twin perspectives of the mundane and the spiritual. For instance, in Particle Arrangement, he says, ‘…all things are poisonous except for the measure and proportion’, referring to the views of Paracelsus. The same story is summed up in the end line, ‘…we have the limitless strength to undo life or the angelic means to elevate it’. Yet again, in The Imitative Animal, the catch is ‘…imitation can result in ridicule, or it can result in reward. It is all a matter of who or what one imitates’.
The masterly narrative is interspersed with Erik Berger’s striking, relevant acrylic and gouache, created with deft, bold strokes in shades of black, enhancing the brilliance of the book. It’s actually an amazing book and will make a very good gift for all ages.
If you are a believer, The Village Maestro and 100 Other Stories is a must read for you.
If you are a non-believer, it is still a must read for you, to search your soul for its maker therein.
Because, as says Dr. Varghese Mathai in the story The Zimbabwe Dollar ‘…a soul parting company with its maker voids itself’.
The Village Maestro and 100 Other Stories has a foreword by Jerry B. Cain, Chancellor, Judson University, Elgin, Illinois and an introduction by the author Dr. Varghese Mathai; pre-orders will be possible in India soon though the book is already available for pre-order in the UK, USA and Canada at www.pipparannbooks.com
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