India, Oct. 31 -- Originally published in Marathi as Parivrajak in 2004, The Seekers, a collection of five short stories by Gautamiputra Kamble, translated by Sirius J Libeiro, questions social traditions. These are stories about searching: for words, people, histories, knowledge, freedom. The Story of a Story, which begins the book, has the narrator going in search of characters whose stories he can write with words that have never been used. In Parivrajak, the titular tale, Anisha is in search of "a two-legged person" when she comes across Naiser, who is in search of a living rock. In Shilpasan, two friends look for a statue in the middle of a desert; while in Tales of Viroopnagar, multiple stories convey the characters' unexplained desire to leave the lush green of home for the desert. The concluding story, The Search for the Sixth Sense features a young man, Nikay, on an obsessive quest for those who have experiences beyond the five senses. In his note, Libeiro alludes to what is lost in translation: "The book's experiment is not intended to present an alternative to the way Judeo-Christian philosophy shapes everyday vocabulary - and by extension, the world for its speakers. The newness - or the strangeness - experienced by an Anglophone reader will be qualitatively different from that felt by a Marathi reader." Still, the translation succeeds in keeping one curious about the prospective scenarios in these tales. Each begins with a curious incident, leads to an interesting premise between its primary characters, and ends with more food for thought, sometimes more questions, than answers. The prose flows rhythmically and a fine balance is maintained between the said and unsaid. So, in The Story of a Story, the narrator, who has written impressive opening lines, tries to find characters worthy of those words. But once he does find them, he cannot bring them to talk. Their silence becomes the biggest hurdle to his storytelling, and raises the question: Can we tell the stories of people who don't want their experiences known? When does a story begin and when does it end? Are there truly words that have never been used before? Parivrajak, which has two strangers deciding to walk the same path in search of their respective destinations, showcases acts of faith and the defeat of fears based on superstition. It also portrays Naiser's faith in humanity and Anisha's conviction that the world is filled with four-legged humans. There is a focus also on society's perceptions of a man and a woman who are seen together. Asked about their relationship, Naiser responds, "For there to be an established relationship between two people, it has to be consensually agreed upon. And there is no such relationship between us yet. None that I can tell you about, anyway." All these works of short speculative fiction showcase Kamble's myth-making skills and the dexterity with which he avoids the introduction of supernatural elements. Throughout, what seems like a fantasy can also be interpreted as a metaphor. So, a character who has turned to stone directs the reader to consider experiences of apathy, suicidal thoughts and depression. All the stories, particularly Tales of Viroopnagar, which references many Jataka stories with themes of freedom, silence, haunted spaces and a thirst for the unknown, view deserts and rivers as sublime. While some question social and religious hierarchies, others question power, including that wielded by community and religious heads. The Phule-Ambedkarite author's work, which recalls the magical tales of childhood, with their kings, mysterious women and forests, taken together, impart a complex wisdom, inviting readers to become comfortable with the unknown. They also attempt to draw a line between pursuits that have destinations in the realm of the living and those that are existential. The translator might ponder the inevitable loss in translation from the original Marathi, but the reader of English undoubtedly still gains a great deal from these works that examine the dichotomy of words and silences, the living and lifeless, master and student, social and religious hierarchy and humanity, and ultimately, in knowledge and wisdom....