And Gazelles Leaping by Sudhin N Ghose

Peon Dada’s part adice that day was: ‘𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒕. 𝑫𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔.’

And Gazelles Leaping by Sudhin N Ghose is a short novel set in Bengal, Sudhin’s hometown. The story is divided into three parts. Part one deals with the children of Sister Svenska or Svenska Bibi’s school all of whom had some pet or the other, including goats, donkeys, tigers, and Mohan the elephant and their daily lives. The main focus is on how an orphan boy, referred to as Little boy across the story, befriends Mohan, the dwarf elephant.

Part two of the book is about a rapacious corporation from a big city trying to take a hold of Rani Nilmani’s estate and how Moti Didi does not let them. Soon after this, a gang of juvenile thugs threatens the orphan and his elephant Mohan and how he fights them and learns the meaning of what it is to stay strong in the face of the wicked.

The third part describes how the parents of all the children in Svenska Bibi’s school were strict and prohibited their children from having any desires for the wordly things. The story also mentions a riot that shook the city of Calcutta and how the children came to terms with it.

Overall, the book was an interesting read and it kept me hooked till the end. From time to time, there were instances mentioned in the book about animals, sages and rulers, all with a short message for humanity. The characters of the story were very well-written and provide better meaning to the story.

The only downside for me was that too many events were crammed into a very small book, which is the reason why I could not understand the end well.

I’ve rated this book a 3.8 because a rating of 3.5 seemed too less for a book so beautifully written, and 4 because there were a few parts that I felt were unnecessary or I could not understand well.

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