Unanchored
Geetanjali Gusain
Pages-280
ISBN: 978 93 5987 295 7
I had lost Toro, my seven-month-old baby with four legs, last week on a cold, autumn morning.
He had waited for me to wake from my power nap, as I had nursed him through the night – I woke up to his low growls—just enough to get my attention. I knelt beside him and whispered a prayer into his ear as he raised his head one last time, then collapsed into my lap.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Evening seemed difficult to arrive. Later, I snuggled into bed with Unanchored, Geetanjali Gusain’s debut book, looking for some company and solace.
And then I came across her chapter, The Raindrop.
It resonated deeply with what I was feeling. As Geetanjali writes, “To love a creature that cannot speak, cannot carry our legacy, and will almost certainly leave us before we are ready, is a specific kind of courage. It comes from the acceptance of a love that is completely useless to the world’s grand designs and, therefore, incredibly pure, and undoubtedly invincible.”
Her words hit me at exactly the right moment.
Unanchored is a work of fiction comprising fourteen poignant narratives that explore resilience, nostalgia and human connection. The stories take us across the subcontinent: home to the foothills of the Himalayas, through the narrow by-lanes of Udaipur, into the perpetual shades of grey that define Daman, and through the golden-green landscapes of Bhimtal. Along the way, we encounter ordinary lives poised at the crossroads of change, at the very fulcrum of being.
Geetanjali’s characters speak to you. They nudge you forward, urging you to keep moving onwards and upwards. Whether it is a layman rebuilding his life after a stroke or a young man navigating the crushing weight of familial expectations, each protagonist stands at a threshold of longing, carrying a quiet need to be seen, understood and discovered.
Steeped in nostalgia, resilience and the human need to connect, the book’s intriguing chapter titles reveal little of what lies within. The Cuckoo’s Nest, The Mango Tree, Friends at Sunset, The Bonsai, The Migratory Ducks and others slowly unfold into stories of hope, enduring love, friendship and the courage to never let go.
Perhaps that is what made Unanchored such fitting company for me that rainy evening. Some books entertain us. Some make us think. And some arrive quietly, when we need them most, and sit beside us, holding our hand and making rock bottom feel like a spring board.
For me, Unanchored is one of those books.
