Review of Kafka in Ayodhya by Zafar Anjum: The work of a great student of life itself

by  Monica Arora

Kafka in Ayodhya and Other Short Stories

by Zafar Anjum

Format: Paperback (Ebook not available yet)
Imprint: Kitaab
Published: November 2015
Subject: Fiction
ISBN: 978-981-09-7276-9
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“An ordinary man can enjoy breakfasting on juice and rye bread.

But when you are underfed, scorned, miserable or just plain bored, you don’t want to eat dull wholesome food.

You want something a little more colourful, exciting, tastier, meatier and juicier.”

These words by young and contemporary authoress RS Vern describe that urge in artists, authors, designers and other creative people to break the monotony of the mundane and the predictable and create something “a little less ordinary”!

Kafka in Ayodhya and other Short Stories, written by Zafar Anjum, the founder of Singapore-based literary journal Kitaab, is a brilliant experiment in quirky and offbeat literature with a Kafkaesque twist (pun intended!) Written in an easy interactive style with a twist at the end in most tales, these stories are delightful and have what it takes to keep the reader engrossed till the very end. In that, the author has established his mastery over his craft!

The title story, “Kafka in Ayodhya” is a figment of Zafar’s very fertile imagination, in which he juxtaposes the inimitable German literary genius in the backdrop of the Ayodhya riots and creates that confused dilemma so often associated with Kafka’s work. “The Lone Fighter” is about the struggle of a poet to get his works published. A funny yet poignant lament on the plight of some literary geniuses!