From Child’s Mighty Pen

From Child’s Mighty Pen William Wordsworth, the Doyen of Romantic Age, appears quite pertinent when he remarks that child is the father of man. The statement in the context can be interpreted in several ways but the one interpretation, on which most of the literary critics agree, is that children have certain latent capabilities and strengths which the grown-up lose as they advance in years. One such remarkably brilliant child author is Srikar Chitta who has indeed carved his niche in the catagory of Children authors with his book “The Odious Orphanage of Pape City” which is rather Srikar’s second published book. His first book “Just Another Horrible Year” had warmed the cockles of the hearts of many readers in the year 2021. While reading Srikar’s latest book, it can be most aptly articulated that coming events cast their shadow before. The way the author has painstaking worked on every smallest aspect of the book makes it fully evident that in Srikar a great author is the making and for his fructification and maturation as a chiseled writer, a proper ground is ready with the right kind of quality seeds sown in its soil.

When we dwell upon the different dynamics of the book, we fain remark that the book belongs to the class of a constructed Gerne. The protagonist of this narrative is a young orphan named Chris who has borne the brunt of his mundane existence and received several heavy and harsh punches at the tyrant hands of life on his tender torso. Keeping the plight of this hapless child in view, one instantly turns melancholic and is reminded of William Shakespeare who writers in his mangun opus play King Lear, “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.”

As the boy enters the orphanage, the harsh punishments meted out by the warden add insult to his injury. Here, most of the readers must be inquisitive to know the fate of the child protagonist in the subsequent life but a sensitive literary critic will not do any injustice with the author by revealing all the details in a review article. Therefore, it will be prudent to leave this for the prospective readers to explore.

Literary critics have an intense propensity and natural prediction for taking recourse to comparative studies. Capitulating to that impulse, one is rather impelled to state that the author of this both has infused the text with the best of the literary refinements. The book is a fantastic, heart-pounding adventure which gives the book- buffs an inexplicable sense of joy and thrill. The plot of the book has also been magnificently crafted and unfolded with unimpeded flow. Couched in the finest of language, ‘The Odious Orphanage of Pape City’ will cut ice with every class of readers. Indeed a must read!

(Prof Shiv Sethi is an Internationally acclaimed scholar and Literary Critic. He has reviewed more than 200 books for the best of Media Houses.)