Quotes from Tall man small shadow

Quotes from Tall man small shadow

a journey of ideas, thoughts and philosophy~Tall man small shadow~Anwesha Bose

Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal Book Review

November 8, 2013 by Anwesha Bose

Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal Book Review

Book: Tall Man Small Shadow
Author: Vipin Behari Goyal
Published: 2013
Publisher: Cyberwit.net
Language: English
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 978-8182534124
Rating (Goodreads, Amazon, Flipkart – overall): 4.35
Reviewer: Anwesha Bose
Reviewer Rating: 3.9
Review Date: November 8, 2013
What do you see when you see a person for the first time? Is it his attire that you notice? His hair? Are you drawn towards his words? You might have gone as far as to see whether his shoes are polished. But I am pretty sure you never noticed his shadow.

The bench under the jacaranda tree, where I often sit and contemplate, is unoccupied. The bench is in an isolated corner of the park surrounded by many flowering trees. There was a violet carpet of jacaranda flowers on the ground. I could catch my breath here. Except for some voices of children in the distance, the park was totally silent. Slowly these voices also became part of silence and I am at peace.

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[pullquote align="left"] Tall Man Small Shadow
Author: Vipin Behari Goyal
Publisher: Cyberwit.net[/pullquote]
Our collective life falls into a new shape each time our roads cross with someone else. It often changes our philosophy and outlook towards life, coerce us into taking actions our own selves were unaware we were capable of doing. Studying the way the human mind works is intriguing, and even more so when you get to do it at the comfort of your recliner, sipping your favorite beverage and reading a book.
For those who connect a 150 page novel with a light read, Tall Man Small Shadow may come as a pleasant surprise. Though devoid of any complicated diction or tangled plot, the novel is not absolutely straightforward.
Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal : About the story
Narrated in multiple voices, the primary narrator is a man named Anupam. He is the father of a girl, Aalya, who is now a woman by all means, and husband to a loving wife who is mostly confined to her bed owing to health ailments. A young man moves into the apartment next to his, he is Salil. This young lad has a fascination for shadows, and he is for some reason drawn towards Aalya’s shadow. Aalya meanwhile falls into a complicated relationship with her thesis guide Seema who is dissatisfied with her life with her husband Paul.
The story begins when Salil moves in to the apartment and his neighbor goes to deliver him a package. This is witnessed by his daughter who likes the new neighbor, though tries to convince herself that it is nothing more than just a passing attraction. Coaxed by her mother Sulekha to send their neighbor a bowl of kabuli, she meets the man for the first time up close. Having recently finished her post graduation in English literature, she needed to finish her thesis work, for which her guide, Dr Seema calls her home. Seema though, has plans of her own.
Dr. Seema and her husband Paul, who was the founder of a drama club, lived a nonexistent life as a couple. Each had their own demons to deal with. Seema on one hand was crushed by fate for being unable to bear children with her husband. Paul on the other, wanted to break the glass ceiling with  his art.
To fulfill a bit of the void in her life, Seema draws Aalya in her life and the two embark on a journey that is both confusing yet intoxicating for the two.
As the events unfold, Salil comes as a savior for Seema, Aalya and Paul by offering to be the sperm donor for the couple’s children. Aalya decides to donate her eggs. As Seema and Paul get blessed with beautiful children, Aalya and Salil get married. But the story does not end here. Destiny manages to find a way to even balance and takes turns of its own.
The most fascinating part is revealed in the end as Sulekha narrates events from her point of view. It is then that the pieces of puzzles fall into place, and you are left with a sense of wonder and surprise.

Book Review: Tall Man Small Shadow
Most parts have been narrated by Anupam. The narration is interspersed with philosophical thoughts on life, destiny and existentialism. Often the narrator likes to sit below a jacaranda tree and ponder upon the chirping of birds, the actions of fellow beings and decide what to do next. The most interesting parts of the story where when he would board a train of thought and take the reader to unknown destination. What may start as a thought on a bird may end in a question of whether the bird or leaves actually exist.
The story in itself has plots and sub plots, not very complicated, yet not very simple. What happened to Salil before he moved in, the relationship between young Aalya and her guide Seema; each is a sub story in a bigger story.
As an honest opinion, the narration is bigger and exceeds the excellence of the story itself in the case of “Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal”.
Despite being a short novel in the count of pages, the reader may defer to devoting a little longer to it than necessary. You need to savor the words, flow with the thoughts of the narrator and see what unfolds. With the absence of nail biting thriller, you can have the luxury of soaking in the philosophical interludes of the plot.
Verdict

As a narrative novel, Tall Man Small Shadow takes the reader on a journey of ideas, thoughts and philosophy. Very delicate topics have been touched upon maturely and a plot woven around the characters flawlessly.

Rating

Plot and Pace: 4
Characters: 4.0
Writing Style: 4.5
Language: 3.1
Overall Rating: 3.9/5
Tall Man Small Shadow: Official Synopsis
This book is romantic fiction based on existentialism. It deals with many aspects of life such as break up, attempted suicide, entrepreneurship, infertility, lesbianism, multicultural ethos, IVF/IUF, uneven marital relationship etc.
Tall Man Small Shadow: Official Foreword by Rosa Maria USA
The primary narrator is Anupam. Appropriate to his personality, his name means “unparalled.” He believes, among other things, “It is good to pray even if you do not believe in God.” Anupam’s sanctuary, his place of meditation, is a park bench under his favorite tree, a jacaranda. His primary function in the novel is to coin existentialist philosophies for the day-to-day events that take place in his life, which centers on his wife, Sulekha, and their only child, Aalya.
Goyal also gives voice, at appropriate points in the novel, to some of the other characters. The philosophical issues explored in this novel are complex and challenging to the traditionally accepted social and religious beliefs of many cultures. However, the storyline has the simplicity of a fable, and it is this, if you will, “magically innocent” element of the story that enables the author to succeed in “suspending our disbelief” long enough to experience this enjoyable controversial novel.
Having survived a suicide attempt after losing the love of his life due to their star-crossed situation, Salil begins to pick up his life in his new home and finds he is falling in love with the small shadow of the lovely girl next door, Aalya, the daughter of Anupam and Sulekha.
A Ph.D. candidate researching “uneven” relationships in English literature, Aalya develops a bond with her thesis guide, Seema, an older childless woman married to Paul, a drama director.
Aalya and Seema become secret lovers, while Aalya falls in love with Salil and Seema continues to be faithfully married to Paul. A visit to a fertility clinic eventually results in Seema’s giving birth to twins, whose biological parents are Salil and Aalya. Paul consistently demonstrates complete faith in his wife and never questions the parentage of his twins, though he is well aware they cannot be his biologically.
Salil and Aalya eventually get married, and an untimely accident renders Salil incapable of fathering a child. However, the kindness they showed to Seema and Paul is about to come back on them. Salil and Aalya will soon find themselves rich in all that is most important in life, and Salil’s philosophy, “Gratitude is a way of reducing the importance of what somebody has done for you,” will give new meaning to the concept of “divine intervention.”
After we have come to know Aalya’s mother, Sulekha, for the majority of the novel from her husband’s point of view, she suddenly speaks directly to us as the narrator, and we get to know a very different woman from the bedridden asthmatic wife who is always drinking tea that Anupam has shown us. Sulekha emerges as the prime mover of the series of “coincidences” that occur leading up to the marriage of her beloved daughter. Sulekha is the one who bridges the gap between what is socially unacceptable and what is divinely possible in order to preserve her daughter’s long and happy life.
About the Author: Vipin Behari Goyal
Vipin Behari Goyal is a Financial Advisor in Government of Rajasthan by profession. His love for books is unparalleled making him an avid reader as well as a prolific writer.
His debut English novel “Tall man small shadow” based on existentialism was published in July 2013. His prior writings include a travel handbook on “TirthRaj Pushkar” and a collection of Hindi poems titled “Tej Dhoop Ka Safar”.
He has also dabbled in documentary film making and is the maker of award-winning short film “Mines are Mine”.
Forthcoming Novels “Maya In Search of Tantric father” and “The old man and the nymph”.
In his words, he says “Like in all other walks of life, in literature also “Honesty is the best policy”. When it is written with honesty and read with equal or rather more honesty, it makes the book immortal. The more burden lies on the shoulder of the reader. If he reads the book that are based on false values, it means he appreciates and promotes Hippocratic literature. Ultimately he becomes responsible for dragging the society in the wrong direction. He does not want the people to understand the true meaning of life, and condemns any efforts made in that direction by the author as well as other readers. Why he would do so?”
http://indianfusion.aglasem.com/tall-man-small-shadow-vipin-behari-goyal-book-review/

Book Review~Tall man small shadow By Vipin Behari Goyal~Shadows can make you fall in love.

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Shadows can make you fall in love.

3:51 pm 20 April 2014

wow..it is an amazing story..its not actually a series of events..instead feelings of 5 different human beings mentioned..the way the author has mentioned their emotions..actually creates a beautiful love story of 3 different persons..whose lives are entwined in a very beautiful way!!..yes..full of coincidences..being a software engineer..i really loved the character of Salil and his ambitious attitude..and of course who can forget Anupam!!this story will make you pause for a moment and make you wonder that life is indeed very beautiful..yes because through this story the author has taught us that life is very precious and it can be lead in a very beautiful manner by respecting the value of life!! the story is told in a very impressive manner..full of beautiful phrases!!..and the ease and clarity with which the author explains difficult situations and issues of life is really very very impressive!..
Finally recommended to all my friends!!


http://aditi91.booklikes.com/

Book Reviews by Sumi ~Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal

Book Reviews by Sumi

Find reviews of books that have influenced me and made me what I am today…

Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal

Posted on March 22, 2014 by sumeethamanikandan

Tall Man Small Shadow

First, let me congratulate the author for writing this novel. It is not a easy thing to write a novel from different POVs and he has not only managed it with aplomb but also shifts from first person to third person mode very easily.
Tall Man Small Shadow is a story that is told from different perspectives and people. Anupam a middle-aged retired man who lives with his wife and daughter ponders deeply on the meaning of life and death. His daughter Alaya, is writing a thesis and is looking for a mentor. His neighbour Salil is an introvert who keeps to himself and has little interaction with anybody. Seema is a professor who is trapped in a unhappy state of affairs due to her inability to conceive and she becomes Alaya’s mentor.
The story began slowly as all the principle characters were introduced and it gathers steam when Seema’s intent and inclinations are revealed. Each character is a multi-layered personality and the way they react to situations and choices is brought out very beautifully.
My favourite among the bunch was Anupam. He seems so innocent to the world and his quest for a meaning in life is something that I truly recognize with. By the time, we get to Sulekha’s chapter you will truly realize that nothing is a coincidence indeed.
Let me  list out a few pet peeves -
The ending seems a bit rushed. What is Alaya feeling in the end? How was her married life with Salil? Was she able to put her lesbian encounter behind her? We do not get to see her pov after that and we just have a narrative that says that she wants to get pregnant.
Salil too talks about his company and its growth but did he put his past with Nasreen and fall in love with Alaya. What are his thoughts in the end? These were the two main things that I was wondering about at the end of the novel.
The author’s prose is simple to read and easy to follow. A much tighter editing is required though especially since this is a novel with different narrative styles.
Plus Points: Good plot, different perspectives and  strong characters
Minus Points: A few cliffhangers that gave an incomplete feel to the novel. A much tighter editing
Verdict: An interesting  read

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About sumeethamanikandan

Sumeetha Manikandan, a freelance content writer is an English literature graduate with a journalism and mass communication diploma. She lives in Chennai with her husband and daughter. After a decade long career in dotcom industry, she started working as a content writer from home. She wrote her debut novel, ‘The Perfect Groom’ as a script for a serial, which she converted into a novella for Indireads.

View all posts by sumeethamanikandan →

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Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal ~Reviewed by Neha Rautela

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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal

Neha Rautela 

What strikes us first and foremost is a unique title- Tall man , small shadow. Since its inception the story line appears to carry  a deeper meaning , something more than what is apparent.

The narrator comes out as someone very frank , readily giving us his honest opinions .Vipin Behari Goyal has successfully  weaved an interesting story with certain original philosophies.  At no point does the author impose his thoughts and ideologies on us. Instead the novel is crispy enough to make one read the book in one go  . The story is written in style that is understood easily  considering  the complex plot .  Events in the story may challenge one’s rigid traditional beliefs or  seem to pose a threat to the cultural system , yet one cannot deny that these are very much prevalent in the society. 

Salil falls in love with a shadow of Aalya ,  the girl next door. Both these characters represent a typical cosmopolitan mindset- where the youth is confused, has little contemplation about their actions even when all they are doing is something seriously unethical.

Salil, does not think it incorrect to father the child of his ex-girlfriend knowing that she is someone else’s wife now. Aalya considers this lack of morals yet she feels very comfortable in her sexual experiences with a married woman , her guide , Seema. What she is doing herself never bothers her .Perhaps she is naive enough to be lured into these adventures or she is just exploring her sexual orientation. Interestingly , she is very much attracted to Salil and Seema even goes to the extent of giving her advises to woo him.

This shows the present situation where youth is facing identity crises. They are stuck between their own values and that of the rest of the world.

We see a mention of some social problem here and there. The elderly suffering due to neglect  as the trend of nuclear families is on a rise. It is very thoughtful of the writer to pen these current problems subtly pointing out the fact that one suffers because one expects and when these expectations are not fulfilled,  a strange sadness jeopardizes his entire existence.

While talking about Seema , the author comments that workaholics are escapists. Indeed so, this shows how minutely the author observes the world around him. Thus , we find a very matured thought process guiding the entire story .

The book “ Tall Man, Small Shadow” has its share of cheesy romance and sizzling scandals yet what makes it worth reading is the journey of the narrator , his intelligent meditation .

What also provides an uplift to the book is Sulekha, the narrator’s wife giving a dramatic ending to the series of coincident that we read about.

While the author gives us  a glimpse into the psyche of major characters- their deepest yearnings , their most sophisticated thoughts ,he also wishes to remove the remaining flaws of his own personality. This shows his critical nature is devoid of any bias!

There are instances of expert sociological explanation in the text where we see caste system , social change theory being addressed. The author serves as a torch bearer for the youth to bring change in the society by setting an example.

Towards the close of story , we find the narrator growing as a person...his thought process, his mind- set , his very soul. His soul expands to that  peaceful state  where he feels unaffected by happiness or turmoil, profit or loss. This self- enlightenment paves way for hope . The hope to accept who we are , to be able to face the truth.

Thus TALL MAN, SMALL SHADOW may not be a fable you want to escape in, it is one book that may help you face life as it mirrors the society very well...

http://neharautela.blogspot.in/

Dwell more into the human psychology - Ishani Vajpai's review

Tall Man Small Shadow
by Vipin Behari Goyal (Goodreads Author)

Ishani Vajpai's review

Jan 04, 14

5 of 5 stars

Its a nice book with very philosophical thoughts.. The description of
the surroundings, nature and the characters is beautiful... The small
prayer by the protagonist " Let everyone be happy, healthy and see
good things. Let no sorrow and pain come to anyone" is heart touching.
Initially I felt it was too philosophical as per my taste but
eventually i enjoyed the unspoken love of Aalya and Salil and even
that of Aalya's parents. The naughtiness of Chotu is well described.
Seema's gray shaded character turned out to be a total surprise. The
story tends to describe too much sensuality and eroticism. But may be
the story line needs it. Sometimes, I felt a bit of over
philosophical thoughts expressed by Anupam, Salil and Aalya. But I
did learn some things about the basic human instincts and behavior. It
helped me to dwell more into the human psychology many a times,,
especially from the angles I had never thought about. Overall,I
liked the book.. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read
something different. A nice blend of philosophy, sensuality and
fiction.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/694454807