Premise: Amma by Bhargava Gade reviewed by Prashila Naik

Amma by Bhargava Gade

Reviewed by Prashila Naik

Bhargava Gade’s Amma is as much about the Appa or the father as it is about the mother. The protagonist is a young man, seething with anger which he is clearly using as a conduit to process his grief. He has his reasons for the rage. Perhaps one can also discern a tinge of guilt at not having asserted himself before: maybe things would have been different; maybe this grief and anger could have been channelled into something else, something more constructive.

As I read through Gade’s tight but unapologetic writing, I could not help but wonder what the story would look like with a female protagonist. I don’t remember the last time I felt this way while reading a work of fiction. In this story, the protagonist’s gender puts him in a position where what he feels and wishes are in conflict with what is ‘expected’ of him. The expectations from a woman in a similar situation, would be different, given that the roles of men and women in the rituals are defined differently. 

Gade explores how it is difficult for a group of men, even if they are part of the same family, to really express themselves to each other and more importantly to support each other. Accusations and disappointments are not expressed in words but rather, through violence and rebellion. Again, this makes me think about how a female protagonist would have dealt with this.

I did wish I would have liked to know a little more about the father. He comes across mostly in broad strokes and maybe that was the point of the story. Because fathers in broad strokes are, after all, found everywhere. But Gade’s expressive visual imagery makes up for this. The story, much like the stain the protagonist is trying to cover, pops out with every sentence, every word. There is also the very personal take on religion which blends into the anger and the guilt. The protagonist probably makes his peace, and how he does that might probably make another story. 

Read Bhargava Gade's ‘Amma’ in Out of Print 48, March 2023.

Reviewer Prashila Naiks's story The Monk appeared in Out of Print 31, and ‘She Reminds Me of Sunshine’, in Out of Print 48.

 

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