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The Cry of the Kingfisher
Set mainly in the verdant, sunshiny land of Goa, The cry of the kingfisher is a warm and inspiring tale of hope and courage. It deals with the inner and outer forces in life that break, and make, three different women. Mayola s sheltered, duty bound life is ripped apart when her gorgeous, tempestuous older sister, Zarella, in whose shadow she has grown, is mysteriously found drowned. All her training in medicine and psychiatry cannot help her as she grapples with the sudden emptiness of her life. Angry despair spurs her on a quest for meaning which brings her in contact with Donna and Succorina. Succorina is a village girl, born to superstition, ignorance and the disaster of being the fourth daughter instead of the long awaited son. Her attempts to break out of her poverty-stricken existence take her as a housemaid to Kuwait, through a distressing abortion and a failed marriage. No longer able to deal with the cruel twists and turns her life has taken, her mind begins to crack. Donna is the proverbial poor little rich girl , brought up in England, showered with everything except love. She turns punk, sinking deeper into chaos and bewilderment as her hopes of finding love and acceptance start crumbling under an explosion of fears that threaten her very existence. Yet, when Mayola s path intersects with these two kindred souls, they embark on a journey of self-realisation, unraveling the painfully tangled strands of fears and dreams waiting to be realized. She watches in admiring delight as they bravely set out to uproot the malediction and hope gushes out.
221 pages, Paperback
First published November 20, 2010
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July 24, 2011
Dialogue impresses in first novel about madness
A review by Ben Antao
The Cry of the Kingfisher
By Belinda Viegas
Publisher, Goa 1556
Pp 221, Rs.195
The Cry of the Kingfisher is a novel seemingly designed to put down superstition, blind faith and religious practices that a good many Catholic Goans follow even today. It is a story that focuses on madness or mental illness symbolised by the cry of the kingfisher, a blue, red and white bird commonly seen in many villages of Goa.
Belinda Viegas, the author, is a practising psychiatrist in Goa, born in Nairobi, Kenya, but of Goan origin of Varca in Salcete. Like many a first-time writer, she draws upon her knowledge, education and practice of psychiatry to develop and flesh out her characters, namely the three main ones, Mayola, Donna and Succorina.
Mayola who narrates the story in the first person is obviously based on the author and her life, albeit fictionalised. Mayola also tells the stories involving Donna and Succorina in the third person.
According to the novel’s blurb, “Mayola’s sheltered, duty-bound life is ripped apart when her gorgeous, tempestuous older sister, Zarella, in whose shadow she has grown, is mysteriously found drowned. All her training in medicine and psychiatry cannot help her as she grapples with the sudden emptiness of her life. Angry despair spurs her on on a quest for meaning, which brings her in contact with Donna and Succorina.
“Donna is the proverbial ‘poor little rich girl’, brought up in England, showered with everything except love, while Succorina is the little Goan village girl, born to superstition, ignorance and the disaster of being the fourth daughter instead of the long awaited son.”
A great deal of the story is told and not shown, a common failing with first-time storytellers. However, where the story is shown through dialogue and action, the reader is engaged in the fascinating highs and lows of mental illness.
For me the best part of the story came alive in the dialogue, which the author handled with natural ease, deep insight revealing character, and admirable panache. Here’s an example.
“Why would I dream of exams now?” Donna asked Mayola. “It’s been years and years since I’ve had any. In fact, the crazy part is that when I did have exams I never felt any anxiety at all. It didn’t bother me much whether I did well or failed. I didn’t care. So why should I feel so fearful about exams now? Especially since I don’t even have any. I know I’m never going to do another bloody exam in my life.” She shook her head. “My mind’s bonking going crazy!”
“Your mind’s not going crazy,” Mayola reassured her. “I don’t have any exams either, but I too find myself dreaming of them.”
“You do? Good. That definitely makes me feel better.” Donna smiled and poured some coffee into her cup from the pot Succorina had just brought out.
“So why all this exam fear? Aha,” she looked knowingly at Mayola, “I know. It’s all the examination anxiety I suppressed all those years ago. Of course! All this fear is the anxiety I should have felt then.”
“No,” Mayola shook her head slowly. “Dreams have everything to do with here and now. I don’t think this is a past anxiety that’s now coming up, but a current one.”
“That’s stupid!” Donna burst out. “I just told you, I don’t have any exams, now or ever.”
“Dreams speak to us in symbols,” Mayola went on calmly, “and we have to crack the code. So exams may not mean school exams.”
“The priest once said that life is a school.” Succorina had been listening.
“Yes, so it is,” Mayola went on. “Life is all about learning and we…”
“And the exams we have to pass are all the problems that come our way.”
“You could put it that way.”
“But what do you do if you don’t even know what the problems are that you’re supposed to face?”
“That’s a tough one.”
In this novel Belinda displays an impressive talent for drawing out shapely characters. Donna’s is sharply drawn, with edges, studs and piercings, warts and all. Still, the novel cries out for details of action, to show and not tell. For instance, when Donna visits Goa she meets an Australian guy, Dave, who takes her to rave parties. Here the author could have set the scene in a definite place and describe the action.
Finally, a word about formatting of the book. I fail to understand why the chapters are set up in a run-on style, instead of opening a new chapter on a new page. It certainly couldn’t be to suggest the theme of madness, but then perhaps it could as in the phrase, method in madness. Secondly, the story would have benefited from a 12 pt font size text, instead of 10 pt. The larger font would have enhanced readability and looked good visually. Thirdly, in the syllabification when the text is justified on both sides, sometimes words at the end of the line are broken awkwardly. The word that is one syllable and must not be printed as th- on the top line and at in the following line. Similarly, the word between is printed as be- on the top line and tween in the line following. Ugh! Such end line syllabification detracts the eye from the enjoyment of reading. The text also could have benefited from close proofreading: the word its needs an apostrophe when used in the sense of it is, like it’s. Its is a possessive pronoun, as in The dog wagged its tail.
For a first novel, Belinda Viegas in her fifties has come out impressively with a story nurtured by her profession. The novel is her accomplishment as a writer. She must now ask herself, “What have I accomplished as a person?”
(Ben Antao is a novelist and short story writer based in Toronto, Canada. His email: ben.antao@rogers.com )
Word count: 990
November 2, 2024
After a long time, I read a book I couldn't keep down or tear myself away from.
I got this book a day before Diwali, but inspite of all the preparations I had to make and functions I had to attend, I found the time to read it.
In fact I even gave a few functions a miss in favour of this book.
Now,
A. I am a Goan. So a story that is closer home strikes a chord.
and B. I am very much interested in understanding the human mind and behaviour connection.
and
C. Belinda the author happens to be my therapist and a woman me and my friends admire very much.
A lot of the times through the book I felt like this was my story and these are my therapy sessions as the conversations ran on similar lines.
I want to read more stories written by Belinda for sure.
Now there are books with the right font and formatting and editing but the story doesn't grip me,
and then there are the other books, like this one, the story is strong and so is the story telling.
It's fast.
No boring moments.
Yes the font should have been a bit bigger, But that didn't hamper my reading experience once I was hooked.
I got this book a day before Diwali, but inspite of all the preparations I had to make and functions I had to attend, I found the time to read it.
In fact I even gave a few functions a miss in favour of this book.
Now,
A. I am a Goan. So a story that is closer home strikes a chord.
and B. I am very much interested in understanding the human mind and behaviour connection.
and
C. Belinda the author happens to be my therapist and a woman me and my friends admire very much.
A lot of the times through the book I felt like this was my story and these are my therapy sessions as the conversations ran on similar lines.
I want to read more stories written by Belinda for sure.
Now there are books with the right font and formatting and editing but the story doesn't grip me,
and then there are the other books, like this one, the story is strong and so is the story telling.
It's fast.
No boring moments.
Yes the font should have been a bit bigger, But that didn't hamper my reading experience once I was hooked.
June 18, 2013
Belinda’s chronicles..
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Haa! J.D.Salinger, I can do this, to Belinda’s book.
The cry of the Kingfisher
Author Belinda Viegas
Publisher Goa 1556
ISBN 978-93-80739-13-7
Just because the storyteller is excellent. She carries us through a journey of thoughts, fears, and insecurities, of three women, from different social milieu of goa. Battling their demons, and slaying their insecurities.
What I really like about the book, is the reflective flow that is the undercurrent, there are no villains, no saviours, but the characters themselves. Despite the tremendous scope for dramatizing the author has restrained allowing the reader to be an non judgemental observer.
Donna the destiny’s darling, yet craving for acceptance. Succorina the unwanted changeling, Mayola who emerges from the shadow of a more aggressive extrovert sister. Their parts entwine, they grow, explore and accept themselves through a journey of self discovery.
Belinda has applied her experience as a psychiatrist honestly and courageously without dramatizing excessively. Woven her memories of Nairobi, Germany, and the very adventure driven life she has had.
About the author: A psychiatrist whose alma matar is St,Johns Bangalore, she spent her childhood at Nairobi, after marriage a stint in germany and Australia. Now based in Goa, she juggles, Psychiatry, motherhood, cycling, sailing, trekking and writing. Belinda is also a trained Mountaineer.
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Haa! J.D.Salinger, I can do this, to Belinda’s book.
The cry of the Kingfisher
Author Belinda Viegas
Publisher Goa 1556
ISBN 978-93-80739-13-7
Just because the storyteller is excellent. She carries us through a journey of thoughts, fears, and insecurities, of three women, from different social milieu of goa. Battling their demons, and slaying their insecurities.
What I really like about the book, is the reflective flow that is the undercurrent, there are no villains, no saviours, but the characters themselves. Despite the tremendous scope for dramatizing the author has restrained allowing the reader to be an non judgemental observer.
Donna the destiny’s darling, yet craving for acceptance. Succorina the unwanted changeling, Mayola who emerges from the shadow of a more aggressive extrovert sister. Their parts entwine, they grow, explore and accept themselves through a journey of self discovery.
Belinda has applied her experience as a psychiatrist honestly and courageously without dramatizing excessively. Woven her memories of Nairobi, Germany, and the very adventure driven life she has had.
About the author: A psychiatrist whose alma matar is St,Johns Bangalore, she spent her childhood at Nairobi, after marriage a stint in germany and Australia. Now based in Goa, she juggles, Psychiatry, motherhood, cycling, sailing, trekking and writing. Belinda is also a trained Mountaineer.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews