Sleeping on Jupiter

 

Book: Sleeping on Jupiter
Author: Anuradha Roy
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Already too many snatched of other people's lives were stored inside her, the built up sediments from which bits and pieces floated up at times, into her dreams."

Anuradha Roy writes another surreal story set in a small town with a bunch of characters wrapped in their own little parallel stories intertwining and separating yet moving in circles. The thing about Anuradha is that she captures the mundaneness of life in such beautiful words that one feel that this story needs to be held for sometime before you let it go and be there in the world with other stories. 

The title 'Sleeping on Jupiter' is ironical, given that all of them are in their own worlds in such a small world. Some are trapped in past, some are facing identity crisis, some are damaged and some are just going by life safely, while the shadows of their memories chase them everywhere. The plot starts some 13 years back with the leading lady Nomi back to Jarmuli in search of someone or something, and her story gets distributaries with strangers she meets on her journey who start their own tales from there on before merging into one into the ocean. 

The beauty of Anuradha's writing comes from the experience of the sounds, the smells and the visions which bring the nostalgia alive. Reader can experience the music of sea waves from afar, the music of temple bells, the smell of fish and garbage dumped on the beaches, the  noise and clamour of a small temple town in India by the sea, the fragrance of flowers, the spicy fish in open frying stalls and the bliss of earthy tea with condiments served in a terracotta cup. And an author is worth it's pen if it can fuel your imagination and transport you in to the book! Thanks to Anuradha, her writing does this every time! 

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