A sky full of balloons

Book title – A sky full of balloons

Publisher – Authorspress publications        Pages – 150    Language – English

Author – Santosh Bakaya

Price – ₹295 for paperback

Available on – Amazon

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A sky full of balloons is a book with a highly lyrical feel to it. It is set in Kashmir and is replete with breathtaking descriptions of the land and Dr Bakaya has littered the book with enough metaphors to ensure that a reader does not finish the book without feeling a deep sense of attachment to her homeland. I quote a few lines from the book.

//but, far away in the distance there was a fairy shimmer, buttery and pale//

//she looked up to find wisps of small, dark clouds being pulled and tugged by a bigger cloud, like mischievous children, by an angry mother, to where they had come from//

//everyday for the fortnight that they were there, the twilight trembled on the mountains, the breeze rapturously kissed the Pine and Fir trees, the feisty foam-freckled Lidder broke into song, or was it someone singing soulfully in the distance?//

//The Pine tree nearest the cottage, unable to restrain its curiosity, leaned closer to the cottage, its senses alert to the sounds emanating from the cottage and like and irrepressible voyeur, tried to eavesdrop//

As the name would suggest, this is a book about happiness, the kind that only touches the life of a few lucky people. However, it is also a book about loss and finding your way out of your grief. The funny thing about grief is that even though it hurts, we grieve loss by finding a sense of comfort in the emotion. We wrap it around ourselves and refuse to let go because within its confines we still find the presence of our loved ones.

The book is about Preeti and Vivek, about their friendship, their love, their sorrowful parting which leaves Preeti as bereft as a rudderless boat amid choppy seas. Does Preeti find her way back to shore? Is she able to shed the duvet of unhappiness that she wraps around herself? This is a book about love and loss, life and hardship, giving up and finding again. This book is about Preeti and her life and the expected and unexpected turns that it takes.

If you like books written in a direct style with terse prose, then this book is not for you. This book is for those who live to savour each spill from an overflowing cup by catching it in the saucer underneath and slurping it noisily.