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A Kind of Meat and Other Stories
A Kind of Meat and Other Stories by Catherine Thankamma is a provocative collection of stories with a shared theme: innocent children and audacious women—wives, mothers, daughters, widows—carrying the burden of living in a conservative and hypercritical country.
In the eponymous story, young Saira inadvertently admits to eating beef during Christmas celebrations—what follows is a storm of judgement and fear when the landlord comes knocking at the door. In ‘The Road Home’, after the death of her husband, Theresa feels devastated when her own sons betray her trust, forcing her to confront the painful truth that love can often be traumatic. In ‘Madhu’, a middleclass woman’s hostility gives way to compassion as she gets to know the colony’s garbage collector. In ‘Tara’, a mother sheds her inhibitions and helps her young daughter overcome a learning disability. In ‘Pieta’, the lens shifts to Mother Mary—the story probes the weight of love and grief that only a mother can know when her child is victimized and put to death. In each of the stories, the characters undergo a quiet transformation as they subtly sidestep the demarcated boundaries that society has imposed upon them and forge new identities propelled by love, loss, and longing. With their profound insights into human nature, these stories show how small yet radical acts of resistance can transform ordinary lives oppressed by retrograde customs and prejudices.
In the eponymous story, young Saira inadvertently admits to eating beef during Christmas celebrations—what follows is a storm of judgement and fear when the landlord comes knocking at the door. In ‘The Road Home’, after the death of her husband, Theresa feels devastated when her own sons betray her trust, forcing her to confront the painful truth that love can often be traumatic. In ‘Madhu’, a middleclass woman’s hostility gives way to compassion as she gets to know the colony’s garbage collector. In ‘Tara’, a mother sheds her inhibitions and helps her young daughter overcome a learning disability. In ‘Pieta’, the lens shifts to Mother Mary—the story probes the weight of love and grief that only a mother can know when her child is victimized and put to death. In each of the stories, the characters undergo a quiet transformation as they subtly sidestep the demarcated boundaries that society has imposed upon them and forge new identities propelled by love, loss, and longing. With their profound insights into human nature, these stories show how small yet radical acts of resistance can transform ordinary lives oppressed by retrograde customs and prejudices.
216 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 30, 2025
In Catherine Thankamma’s "A Kind of Meat and Other Stories", the quiet tremors of rebellion ripple beneath the surface of everyday life. These are not stories that shout or posture for attention; they whisper, they ache, they bleed silently. The author's prose, though calm on the surface, carries the weight of centuries of conditioning, patriarchal, religious, and moral, that women and children are born into and forced to navigate with grace and guilt in equal measure.
What makes this collection truly stand out is its unflinching gaze into the subtle violences of domesticity and the hypocrisy of societal virtue. The stories revolve around ordinary people, mothers, widows, garbage collectors, children, who are caught between obedience and selfhood. Through them, she dissects how oppression operates not just through laws or punishments but through everyday glances, words, and silences.
At the heart of the collection lies the tension between conformity and courage. In the titular story "A Kind of Meat", a child’s innocent confession of having eaten beef becomes a ticking bomb, her mother’s world tilts between fear and shame, caught in a moral panic that is less about religion and more about control. She captures the terror of judgment with haunting precision. The scene isn’t dramatic, yet it burns. It’s a mirror to our society where morality is performative, and fear is internalized as virtue.
In The Road Home, the betrayal of Theresa by her sons is both intimate and universal. The story cuts deep because it dismantles the romanticized idea of motherhood as self-sacrifice. Love here is not redemptive; it is traumatic. The mother’s grief is raw, unadorned, and painfully believable.
Madhu stands out for its quiet evolution, a middle-class woman’s prejudice towards a garbage collector dissolves into compassion. What begins as disdain transforms into a recognition of shared humanity. The brilliance of her storytelling lies in this subtle shift, no loud declarations, no moral sermons, just a slow thawing of inherited cruelty.
✍️ Strengths :
🔸The greatest strength of this collection is its moral clarity without moralizing. The author writes with compassion, but never indulgence. She doesn’t romanticize suffering; she examines it. Her characters aren’t victims, they are witnesses to a world that keeps breaking them yet demands their silence.
🔸Her prose is minimalistic yet piercing. There are no wasted sentences, no ornamental metaphors. Every line feels lived, every pause heavy with meaning. The dialogues feel authentic, reflecting the muted cadences of Indian homes where confrontation happens through silence more than words.
🔸Thematically, the stories resonate because they are deeply rooted in social realism, religious intolerance, gender roles, class prejudice, and the quiet violence of respectability politics. Yet, despite their heavy themes, the stories never lose their human tenderness.
🔸What elevates the book is its feminine consciousness, not as ideology but as empathy. She understands that rebellion often takes the shape of survival, that love and defiance are sometimes indistinguishable.
In conclusion, it is a tender yet unflinching portrait of life under moral scrutiny. It’s about the weight of being good in a world that punishes honesty and the quiet courage it takes to simply exist as oneself.
This book doesn’t offer comfort; it offers confrontation, the kind that makes you pause, look inward, and see the small tyrannies we’ve normalized in the name of culture.
What makes this collection truly stand out is its unflinching gaze into the subtle violences of domesticity and the hypocrisy of societal virtue. The stories revolve around ordinary people, mothers, widows, garbage collectors, children, who are caught between obedience and selfhood. Through them, she dissects how oppression operates not just through laws or punishments but through everyday glances, words, and silences.
At the heart of the collection lies the tension between conformity and courage. In the titular story "A Kind of Meat", a child’s innocent confession of having eaten beef becomes a ticking bomb, her mother’s world tilts between fear and shame, caught in a moral panic that is less about religion and more about control. She captures the terror of judgment with haunting precision. The scene isn’t dramatic, yet it burns. It’s a mirror to our society where morality is performative, and fear is internalized as virtue.
In The Road Home, the betrayal of Theresa by her sons is both intimate and universal. The story cuts deep because it dismantles the romanticized idea of motherhood as self-sacrifice. Love here is not redemptive; it is traumatic. The mother’s grief is raw, unadorned, and painfully believable.
Madhu stands out for its quiet evolution, a middle-class woman’s prejudice towards a garbage collector dissolves into compassion. What begins as disdain transforms into a recognition of shared humanity. The brilliance of her storytelling lies in this subtle shift, no loud declarations, no moral sermons, just a slow thawing of inherited cruelty.
✍️ Strengths :
🔸The greatest strength of this collection is its moral clarity without moralizing. The author writes with compassion, but never indulgence. She doesn’t romanticize suffering; she examines it. Her characters aren’t victims, they are witnesses to a world that keeps breaking them yet demands their silence.
🔸Her prose is minimalistic yet piercing. There are no wasted sentences, no ornamental metaphors. Every line feels lived, every pause heavy with meaning. The dialogues feel authentic, reflecting the muted cadences of Indian homes where confrontation happens through silence more than words.
🔸Thematically, the stories resonate because they are deeply rooted in social realism, religious intolerance, gender roles, class prejudice, and the quiet violence of respectability politics. Yet, despite their heavy themes, the stories never lose their human tenderness.
🔸What elevates the book is its feminine consciousness, not as ideology but as empathy. She understands that rebellion often takes the shape of survival, that love and defiance are sometimes indistinguishable.
In conclusion, it is a tender yet unflinching portrait of life under moral scrutiny. It’s about the weight of being good in a world that punishes honesty and the quiet courage it takes to simply exist as oneself.
This book doesn’t offer comfort; it offers confrontation, the kind that makes you pause, look inward, and see the small tyrannies we’ve normalized in the name of culture.
October 18, 2025
I can’t stop thinking about this book. These stories stay with you in ways you don’t even realise at first. They are about things we don’t usually see in books. The quiet, simmering anger of women, the little ways they push back against the expectations piled on them and the subtle bonds between women who understand each other without needing to say much.
Some stories are heartbreaking. They show how society twists the innocence of children, how parents can see their kids as extensions of themselves rather than people. And how we’re all judged by this impossible idea of success. The way fear, hierarchy and control are used is chilling but Catherine Thankamma writes it without it feeling preachy. And somehow she even sneaks humour in there. Manufactured Destiny made me roll around in laughter and then broke my heart the next moment.
I love how the book doesn’t rely on loud drama to show female rage. It’s quiet, patient, and real. There are moments of tiny defiance that feel so human. They make the characters feel alive, not mere symbols or stand ins. The way she plays with the ideas of purity, food and social rules. It’s subtle but sharp, making you notice how much the world around us is structured by control we barely question.
This collection isn’t flashy or what you would generally read in mainstream texts. And that’s exactly what makes it feel special. Every story makes you pause and look a little closer at the ordinary world around you and at the people in it who are so often overlooked. It’s one of those books that lingers with you. And I find myself thinking about it days later
Merged review:
I can’t stop thinking about this book. These stories stay with you in ways you don’t even realise at first. They are about things we don’t usually see in books. The quiet, simmering anger of women, the little ways they push back against the expectations piled on them and the subtle bonds between women who understand each other without needing to say much.
Some stories are heartbreaking. They show how society twists the innocence of children, how parents can see their kids as extensions of themselves rather than people. And how we’re all judged by this impossible idea of success. The way fear, hierarchy and control are used is chilling but Catherine Thankamma writes it without it feeling preachy. And somehow she even sneaks humour in there. Manufactured Destiny made me roll around in laughter and then broke my heart the next moment.
I love how the book doesn’t rely on loud drama to show female rage. It’s quiet, patient, and real. There are moments of tiny defiance that feel so human. They make the characters feel alive, not mere symbols or stand ins. The way she plays with the ideas of purity, food and social rules. It’s subtle but sharp, making you notice how much the world around us is structured by control we barely question.
This collection isn’t flashy or what you would generally read in mainstream texts. And that’s exactly what makes it feel special. Every story makes you pause and look a little closer at the ordinary world around you and at the people in it who are so often overlooked. It’s one of those books that lingers with you. And I find myself thinking about it days later
Some stories are heartbreaking. They show how society twists the innocence of children, how parents can see their kids as extensions of themselves rather than people. And how we’re all judged by this impossible idea of success. The way fear, hierarchy and control are used is chilling but Catherine Thankamma writes it without it feeling preachy. And somehow she even sneaks humour in there. Manufactured Destiny made me roll around in laughter and then broke my heart the next moment.
I love how the book doesn’t rely on loud drama to show female rage. It’s quiet, patient, and real. There are moments of tiny defiance that feel so human. They make the characters feel alive, not mere symbols or stand ins. The way she plays with the ideas of purity, food and social rules. It’s subtle but sharp, making you notice how much the world around us is structured by control we barely question.
This collection isn’t flashy or what you would generally read in mainstream texts. And that’s exactly what makes it feel special. Every story makes you pause and look a little closer at the ordinary world around you and at the people in it who are so often overlooked. It’s one of those books that lingers with you. And I find myself thinking about it days later
Merged review:
I can’t stop thinking about this book. These stories stay with you in ways you don’t even realise at first. They are about things we don’t usually see in books. The quiet, simmering anger of women, the little ways they push back against the expectations piled on them and the subtle bonds between women who understand each other without needing to say much.
Some stories are heartbreaking. They show how society twists the innocence of children, how parents can see their kids as extensions of themselves rather than people. And how we’re all judged by this impossible idea of success. The way fear, hierarchy and control are used is chilling but Catherine Thankamma writes it without it feeling preachy. And somehow she even sneaks humour in there. Manufactured Destiny made me roll around in laughter and then broke my heart the next moment.
I love how the book doesn’t rely on loud drama to show female rage. It’s quiet, patient, and real. There are moments of tiny defiance that feel so human. They make the characters feel alive, not mere symbols or stand ins. The way she plays with the ideas of purity, food and social rules. It’s subtle but sharp, making you notice how much the world around us is structured by control we barely question.
This collection isn’t flashy or what you would generally read in mainstream texts. And that’s exactly what makes it feel special. Every story makes you pause and look a little closer at the ordinary world around you and at the people in it who are so often overlooked. It’s one of those books that lingers with you. And I find myself thinking about it days later
November 23, 2025
-Heart-warming & Path breaking-
Review of 'A Kind of Meat & Other Stories' by Catherine Thankamma and @aleph
Quote Alert
"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐢. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐲𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫."
Short stories carry their own charm. Little microcosm of emotions they are, jumping from one theme to another. It's like a delightful platter at a restaurant. You can have dozens of dishes, enjoying savoury with sweet, textures melting into your mouth. In one anthology you can have many many protagonists to love, many to loathe, many to care for and some to forget and move on. That's also the biggest plus point of a short story collection. If you don't like a story, maybe move on to another one.
These are the stories of remarkable people who live their life in flashes. For a reader, that is me, the protagonists of a short story are living either their best or their worst lives. Contrary to a novel where characters get at least 80,000 words to create the ebbs and flows of their lives. But a short story is a rollercoaster of a ride. Here either you are happy or sad or plain disappointed. The author makes sure you aren't lattermost.
A Kind of Meat and Other Stories by Catherine Thankamma is a provocative collection of stories with a shared theme: innocent children and audacious women—wives, mothers, daughters, widows—carrying the burden of living in a conservative and hypercritical country.
In the eponymous story, young Saira inadvertently admits to eating beef during Christmas celebrations—what follows is a storm of judgement and fear when the landlord comes knocking at the door. In ‘The Road Home’, after the death of her husband, Theresa feels devastated when her own sons betray her trust, forcing her to confront the painful truth that love can often be traumatic. In ‘Madhu’, a middleclass woman’s hostility gives way to compassion as she gets to know the colony’s garbage collector. In ‘Tara’, a mother sheds her inhibitions and helps her young daughter overcome a learning disability. In ‘Pieta’, the lens shifts to Mother Mary—the story probes the weight of love and grief that only a mother can know when her child is victimized and put to death. In each of the stories, the characters undergo a quiet transformation as they subtly sidestep the demarcated boundaries that society has imposed upon them and forge new identities propelled by love, loss, and longing. With their profound insights into human nature, these stories show how small yet radical acts of resistance can transform ordinary lives oppressed by retrograde customs and prejudices.
Review of 'A Kind of Meat & Other Stories' by Catherine Thankamma and @aleph
Quote Alert
"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐢. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐲𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫."
Short stories carry their own charm. Little microcosm of emotions they are, jumping from one theme to another. It's like a delightful platter at a restaurant. You can have dozens of dishes, enjoying savoury with sweet, textures melting into your mouth. In one anthology you can have many many protagonists to love, many to loathe, many to care for and some to forget and move on. That's also the biggest plus point of a short story collection. If you don't like a story, maybe move on to another one.
These are the stories of remarkable people who live their life in flashes. For a reader, that is me, the protagonists of a short story are living either their best or their worst lives. Contrary to a novel where characters get at least 80,000 words to create the ebbs and flows of their lives. But a short story is a rollercoaster of a ride. Here either you are happy or sad or plain disappointed. The author makes sure you aren't lattermost.
A Kind of Meat and Other Stories by Catherine Thankamma is a provocative collection of stories with a shared theme: innocent children and audacious women—wives, mothers, daughters, widows—carrying the burden of living in a conservative and hypercritical country.
In the eponymous story, young Saira inadvertently admits to eating beef during Christmas celebrations—what follows is a storm of judgement and fear when the landlord comes knocking at the door. In ‘The Road Home’, after the death of her husband, Theresa feels devastated when her own sons betray her trust, forcing her to confront the painful truth that love can often be traumatic. In ‘Madhu’, a middleclass woman’s hostility gives way to compassion as she gets to know the colony’s garbage collector. In ‘Tara’, a mother sheds her inhibitions and helps her young daughter overcome a learning disability. In ‘Pieta’, the lens shifts to Mother Mary—the story probes the weight of love and grief that only a mother can know when her child is victimized and put to death. In each of the stories, the characters undergo a quiet transformation as they subtly sidestep the demarcated boundaries that society has imposed upon them and forge new identities propelled by love, loss, and longing. With their profound insights into human nature, these stories show how small yet radical acts of resistance can transform ordinary lives oppressed by retrograde customs and prejudices.
November 30, 2025
A Kind of Meat and Other Stories by Catherine Thankamma
This is a collection of short stories that cuts deep. They are profound, painful, and filled with silent muffled screams, the kind that echo quietly in the lives of women in a traditional and judgmental society.
These stories go beyond portraying the sufferings of innocent children and women, they hold within them a subtle revolution. Through quiet transformations, the characters cross the rigid borders of societal norms and begin to reclaim their own identities. None of the stories seek to shout or provoke change overtly, yet change is inevitable, unfolding gently through the author’s profound insights into human nature, stirred by the complex undercurrents of love, loss, and longing that shape the human psyche.
Imagine, in today’s times when what you eat has somehow become a measure of who you are, and people are judged, even condemned, for their choices, a mere meal can turn into a social verdict. Your landlord might pound on your door, demanding that you vacate your home, not for what you’ve done, but for what you’ve eaten.
In the eponymous story A Kind of Meat, young Saira, eager not to appear ignorant before an elder, casually admits to eating beef during Christmas celebrations, an admission that spirals into something far beyond her control.
The story Upma for Breakfast and Lunch follows Reema, a schoolgirl who visits her uncle’s home each day for lunch. But what unfolds there is quiet cruelty, mockery from her cousins, and indifference from her aunt and uncle. Out of that neglect, however, emerges a moment of self-realization, a small but powerful decision that changes her forever.
Then there’s the tender and uplifting tale of Tara and her mother Uma, whose journey lights a small diya of hope for those living with learning disabilities, reminding us that love and understanding can transform even the darkest corners of despair.
Finally, Standpoint tells the story of Radha Rukmini, a woman convinced she isn’t meant for love marriage. On a train journey to GJS College, where she’s been invited to speak at a seminar, she encounters the harsh reality of how women are so easily and cruelly judged based on appearances. Her experience exposes the deep-seated hypocrisy that exists when women themselves become enforcers of the very moral codes that confine them.
Though I can’t mention all the stories here because of the constraints of this review’s length, I will hold this collection close to my heart. It’s a book I’ll cherish for its remarkable narration, its deep exploration of human psychology, and the author’s delicate yet powerful way of storytelling.
This is a collection of short stories that cuts deep. They are profound, painful, and filled with silent muffled screams, the kind that echo quietly in the lives of women in a traditional and judgmental society.
These stories go beyond portraying the sufferings of innocent children and women, they hold within them a subtle revolution. Through quiet transformations, the characters cross the rigid borders of societal norms and begin to reclaim their own identities. None of the stories seek to shout or provoke change overtly, yet change is inevitable, unfolding gently through the author’s profound insights into human nature, stirred by the complex undercurrents of love, loss, and longing that shape the human psyche.
Imagine, in today’s times when what you eat has somehow become a measure of who you are, and people are judged, even condemned, for their choices, a mere meal can turn into a social verdict. Your landlord might pound on your door, demanding that you vacate your home, not for what you’ve done, but for what you’ve eaten.
In the eponymous story A Kind of Meat, young Saira, eager not to appear ignorant before an elder, casually admits to eating beef during Christmas celebrations, an admission that spirals into something far beyond her control.
The story Upma for Breakfast and Lunch follows Reema, a schoolgirl who visits her uncle’s home each day for lunch. But what unfolds there is quiet cruelty, mockery from her cousins, and indifference from her aunt and uncle. Out of that neglect, however, emerges a moment of self-realization, a small but powerful decision that changes her forever.
Then there’s the tender and uplifting tale of Tara and her mother Uma, whose journey lights a small diya of hope for those living with learning disabilities, reminding us that love and understanding can transform even the darkest corners of despair.
Finally, Standpoint tells the story of Radha Rukmini, a woman convinced she isn’t meant for love marriage. On a train journey to GJS College, where she’s been invited to speak at a seminar, she encounters the harsh reality of how women are so easily and cruelly judged based on appearances. Her experience exposes the deep-seated hypocrisy that exists when women themselves become enforcers of the very moral codes that confine them.
Though I can’t mention all the stories here because of the constraints of this review’s length, I will hold this collection close to my heart. It’s a book I’ll cherish for its remarkable narration, its deep exploration of human psychology, and the author’s delicate yet powerful way of storytelling.
October 18, 2025
I can't resist short stories. they're small, quiet but they hit hard, and this book does exactly that.
Reading it feels like holding a mirror to society. It shows how tiny things, like words, traditions and judgements can shape lives, especially for women and kids. Nothing is exaggerated, but you notice the weight of everyday life and struggles.
The stories explore themes like the struggles of women and children in a patriarchal, judgmental society, navigating caste, class, and communal divides, and experiences of love, loss and grief. It also shows transformations and resistance against societal norms, while touching on death, ageing and what home really means.
Thankamma’s writing is simple, but when you finish the story and pause, you realize how much she conveys in so few words. The story stays, like a part of our own life. Because society really is just like she shows...
Merged review:
𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠: 𝙰 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙾𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚊
I can't resist short stories. They're small, quiet but they hit hard, and this book does exactly that.
Reading it feels like holding a mirror to society. It shows how tiny things, like words, traditions, and judgements can shape lives, especially for women and kids. Nothing is exaggerated, but you notice the weight of everyday life and struggles.💔
The stories explore themes like the struggles of women and children in a patriarchal, judgmental society, navigating caste, class, and communal divides, and experiences of love, loss, and grief. It also shows transformations and resistance against societal norms, while touching on death, ageing, and what home really means.
Thankamma’s writing is simple, but when you finish the story and pause, you realize how much she conveys in so few words. The story stays, like a part of our own life. Because society really is just like she shows...
Reading it feels like holding a mirror to society. It shows how tiny things, like words, traditions and judgements can shape lives, especially for women and kids. Nothing is exaggerated, but you notice the weight of everyday life and struggles.
The stories explore themes like the struggles of women and children in a patriarchal, judgmental society, navigating caste, class, and communal divides, and experiences of love, loss and grief. It also shows transformations and resistance against societal norms, while touching on death, ageing and what home really means.
Thankamma’s writing is simple, but when you finish the story and pause, you realize how much she conveys in so few words. The story stays, like a part of our own life. Because society really is just like she shows...
Merged review:
𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠: 𝙰 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙾𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚊
I can't resist short stories. They're small, quiet but they hit hard, and this book does exactly that.
Reading it feels like holding a mirror to society. It shows how tiny things, like words, traditions, and judgements can shape lives, especially for women and kids. Nothing is exaggerated, but you notice the weight of everyday life and struggles.💔
The stories explore themes like the struggles of women and children in a patriarchal, judgmental society, navigating caste, class, and communal divides, and experiences of love, loss, and grief. It also shows transformations and resistance against societal norms, while touching on death, ageing, and what home really means.
Thankamma’s writing is simple, but when you finish the story and pause, you realize how much she conveys in so few words. The story stays, like a part of our own life. Because society really is just like she shows...
October 18, 2025
A Kind of Meat and Other Stories is a collection that thrives on exposing the tiny, everyday flaws we’d rather sweep under the rug. The snap judgments, greedy calculations, patriarchal hand-holding that’s really just handcuffing.
A woman fast asleep on a morning commute with hair left open? Clearly a moral scandal waiting to happen. A man in the wrong place at the wrong time is automatically guilty, grief is a performance where gossip is the main course. All so familiar until you realize these little cruelties shape the entire fabric of our lives.
But here’s where the stories stand out. They don’t just highlight the rot, but show the cracks where light gets in. The smallest acts like a woman choosing compassion over hostility, holding love over money, a daughter refusing to measure her worth in inheritance, become progressive gestures. They chip away at the everyday prejudices that keep retrograde customs alive.
The collection doesn’t stop at individual pettiness. It pokes at the bigger beast: our society itself. Nepotism is practically a national pastime. Influence decides who gets cushy comforts, who skips the queue, who inherits power while the rest watch from the sidelines and pretend it’s all just the way things are.
Thankamma's stories are sharp in showing us that human nature is riddled with flaws with our love of gossip, our greed, and our obsessive need to control. On the other hand, it also suggests these same ordinary spaces hold the power to bring change. A quiet act of defiance tucked into a mundane day, can shake the very customs that feel immovable.
By the time I finished, I realized these aren’t just stories of weakness. They’re also stories of resistance, messy in their imperfection, but powerful in their ordinariness. And that’s the punch.
A woman fast asleep on a morning commute with hair left open? Clearly a moral scandal waiting to happen. A man in the wrong place at the wrong time is automatically guilty, grief is a performance where gossip is the main course. All so familiar until you realize these little cruelties shape the entire fabric of our lives.
But here’s where the stories stand out. They don’t just highlight the rot, but show the cracks where light gets in. The smallest acts like a woman choosing compassion over hostility, holding love over money, a daughter refusing to measure her worth in inheritance, become progressive gestures. They chip away at the everyday prejudices that keep retrograde customs alive.
The collection doesn’t stop at individual pettiness. It pokes at the bigger beast: our society itself. Nepotism is practically a national pastime. Influence decides who gets cushy comforts, who skips the queue, who inherits power while the rest watch from the sidelines and pretend it’s all just the way things are.
Thankamma's stories are sharp in showing us that human nature is riddled with flaws with our love of gossip, our greed, and our obsessive need to control. On the other hand, it also suggests these same ordinary spaces hold the power to bring change. A quiet act of defiance tucked into a mundane day, can shake the very customs that feel immovable.
By the time I finished, I realized these aren’t just stories of weakness. They’re also stories of resistance, messy in their imperfection, but powerful in their ordinariness. And that’s the punch.
September 29, 2025
What struck me first about A Kind of Meat and Other Stories was its unflinching honesty. Catherine Thankamma dives into the everyday lives of women and children with a tenderness that never dilutes the rawness of their struggles. Each story peels back a layer of societal judgment, exposing the quiet rebellions and silent endurance that shape ordinary lives in extraordinary ways.
I found myself particularly drawn to The Road Home and Madhu, where betrayal, prejudice, and compassion collide in ways that feel both familiar and unsettling. Thankamma’s prose is simple, almost understated, yet it’s precisely this restraint that makes the stories resonate so deeply. The themes of love, loss, and resilience are handled with such clarity that I often felt the characters’ silences were speaking louder than their words.
Read the full review here: https://www.aliveshadow.com/category-...
I found myself particularly drawn to The Road Home and Madhu, where betrayal, prejudice, and compassion collide in ways that feel both familiar and unsettling. Thankamma’s prose is simple, almost understated, yet it’s precisely this restraint that makes the stories resonate so deeply. The themes of love, loss, and resilience are handled with such clarity that I often felt the characters’ silences were speaking louder than their words.
Read the full review here: https://www.aliveshadow.com/category-...
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