Waiting: A Collection of Stories

by Nighat Gandhi

In this new collection by Nighat Gandhi, the private worlds of women open themselves up to the reader. Inside their homes, women are trapped in a state of continuous limbo, waiting for change; young girls struggle for the “purity” that religion demands of them; new mothers wonder at the absence of desire. Outside, the seasons change—trees shed their leaves, the sky becomes overcast, and rain falls. Sounds float inside, and the women wonder about the meaning of life. Each story elicits a new, sometimes troubling, question about living as a woman in the world today. The characters’ nuanced descriptions and unsparing truthfulness leaves readers with a sense of discomfort as they confront their own demons. With subtle force, Waiting explores love, longing, loss, aging, survival, hope, and self-invention—the most powerful realities of life.
 

Genres: Short Stories, India

152 pages, Hardcover

Published November 30, 2019

Reviews

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both men and women have the ability to think and to try to find a conclusion to the questions they are seeking. The struggle for equality had been extremely difficult, more so because of how we internalise what we get to know from an early age. Even though this struggle has been going on since a long time, we still have a long way to go before we can actually claim that we have reached where we have been desiring to go for long. In the absence of such a governing force from our society, women need to ask some pertinent questions - first to themselves, then to the world.

Waiting: A Collection of Stories is a compilation of thirteen different short stories that raises a different question in every story. It shows how men and women are both uprooted at the same time and thus, in this process, women are expected to grow faster than the opposite gender. It tells the plight of women who has to conform without even knowing why. It describes how the word "slut" takes on a different meaning in different circumstances. It is about a woman falling in love with another woman and looking for answers to the questions hanging in the air and a woman affecting other woman's life indelibly. It is about a woman's several attempts to feel complete by standing up for herself. All the thirteen stories raise very important questions throughout. The stories are refined and emanate of a strong voice at times.

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[Mridula Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fight for gender equality had been long and tiring, and even then women today find themselves in unexplainable and unacceptable situations in the name of religion and patriarchy. Nighat Gandhi’s ‘Waiting’ is a collection of 13 stories that shoves us into the lives of thirteen different women, caught in the monotony of life, looking for a meaningful existence that is not tainted by the laws dictated by other people.

“A sort of answer to my loneliness is emerging: maybe, some kinds of loneliness aren’t meant to end”

A peek into the intimate world of women, ‘Waiting’ wraps you in a world that seems normal, yet to live with these suppressed feelings can throw any of us into a chaos that can not be solved by ordinary means. A woman imprints her father on her husband (according to her therapist) and tries to find what’s wrong in her marriage, even when she is as perfect as a wife as can be expected of any female individual. Her desire for intimacy in bed is lost and the world keeps telling her that it’s normal after having a baby and that, its the hormones playing the villain.

In another story, the importance of attaining ‘purity’ and their honesty towards God and religion gets jumbled up. Similarly, some women are being given a hard time just because they decide to shelter an old man, or for having a perfect marriage even though there is a visible lack of happiness. A rapist’s wife decides to start living with the girl her husband raped, an anxious woman writes an ‘Arzi’ to God describing her plight because that’s how the world works, and a girl suffering from self-doubt and low self-esteem.

As the seasons shuffle, very little changes in their lives. Their search for a reason is arduous, especially in a world that wants them to live within a confined set of rules. Each of the women is troubled and unable to express her grief and angst because the world isn’t accommodating enough. Gandhi’s narration is straightforward and brutal, and her choice of issues represents a diversity of problems that converges to one single point of constant agony.

‘Waiting’ is everything life encompasses and Nighat Gandhi gives them an unrelenting voice, questioning our vulnerability and writing it all in a convincing and relatable manner.

[Sarmistha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pain, torment, loss and longing travelled eons from the prose and lodged in my heart, I could hardly realise when the words blurred.Waiting is a stimulating anthology that deftly projected love, loss, agony, longing, faith, senescent and self-discovery through the tales of common people.The protagonists constantly contested against the patriarchy, rustic norms of the society and harrassing circumstances of their life.
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I fell hopelessly in love with the first story Lingerie, the central character's disillusionment with the nomadic life and her heart's ardent yearning for stability moved my heart. Shaming.Shaving threw light on the concept of purity propogated through the generations and practised by the belief of humans.Panjpir Chowk is full of beautiful couplets and strong souls. Goodies pronounced the desire of determined woman who defy to bow. The Rapist's wife portrayed two woman wronged by the same man but only one had the power to bring him to book.
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The engaging narration with detailed characters will strike a chord with the readers.The prose is intense and absorbing.It took me three sittings to finish the thin book as the stories holds the power to wrench your heart and pound your mind with essential questions.A #mustread for every fiction lover.
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[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting.
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Thank you for the review copy @zubaanbooks.
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Waiting is a short story collection of 13 stories, most of them being told from the point of view of a woman. Ranging from teenagers to middle aged women, this book talks about the intimate details that they harbour. It oozes feminism and few stories strike a chord with you. Part of the reason why I came to love this book was not because of the plot but it was to do with all the characters. The stories seem familiar, something that you've been through or have witnessed someone going through it and you can almost feel it grown upon you.
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There were many stories that I truly liked but few of my favourites were Lingerie, Shaming,Shaving , Goodies, Slut series and Sunday morning. I have often stressed about how different it is for women to live by their rules and freedom even in this Era and the fact that this book brings that into the picture, is truly commendable. It addresses issues that comes with religion and how being pure is associated with it, the painful concept of losing desire towards one's own husband, the longing for love and how aging affects us all. Few stories may seem odd but once you read it, it leaves you surprised. One such story was The Rapist's Wife. Pick up the book to read in detail.
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A strong book on feminism, the kind that speaks boldly without a trace of hesitation, this book will surely seep into the minds of the readers. The stories are not too lengthy and can be finished within a day. If you're in between heavy books at the moment, this book would serve as a perfect read to unwind yourself. The writing is beautiful and crisp. There are no extras, no complicated words and the author gets right to the point. These stories had to be said and it couldn't have been done in a better way than this. The cover of the book is gorgeous and makes you want to dig in right away. A complete package through and through.
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Rating -4.5 / 5.

[Roshan Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Waiting" is a collection of thirteen stories. All the stories had female protagonists and the characterisation is brilliant. The world looks different from a woman's perspective. I felt a host of emotions while walking in the shoes of these women. From a poor ten year old girl, to a middle aged woman living in the US, I never felt distanced from the characters. Stories are bold, refined and bring us face to face with issues that aren't discussed in the mainstream. Feminism and the fight for equality has evolved over the years and achieved much but it still has a long way to go and Nighat Gandhi's book reads like a brilliant attempt in the right direction.

[Areeb Ahmad (Bankrupt_Bookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many stories feel underdeveloped, especially all the short ones. The first half is generally stronger than the first half. RTC?

[Sidharth Bansal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of 13 short stories and all of them has a female character in focus. "Waiting" discusses about their tedious lives in a brutally detailed manner.
Everyone is talking about gender equality these days. But the fact is they don't really know the meaning of gender equality. They don't really know what women are actually asking for. "Waiting" is a book which gives you an intimate insight in the lives of the women around us and how they are living in a hope of a better future and in a hope that they will be able to stand for themselves.
The women perspective is very different from what we people assume it to be. The POVs in this book will definitely strikes the appropriate chord because they are familiar. They are the one's which we see around us in our daily lives and somewhere or the other we ignore it.

Why purity of a women is being associated with the religion?
Why a woman giving home to an old beggar in her veranda is being judged?
Why a woman is considered to be in a "perfect marriage" when there is a significant lack of happiness?
Why girls these days are in self doubt and suffering from low self esteem?

These are some of the many important questions which this book arises. And TBH no one these days is capable enough to answer them.
Some stories in this book had a hard impact on me but there is this one story called "The Rapist's Wife". This story intrigued me alot. In this the Rapist's wife starts living with the girl whom her husband raped. This was quite a disturbing story which I was not really expecting.
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Once again the POVs in this book are something to die for. This is a very strong book on feminism. And the author herself seems to be a very strong and empowered personality. I will definitely recommend this book to you guys as it is written beautifully. There is not even a single extra word, it is just on point. Also the stories are so paced that you'll finish the whole in a day. Although there are a couple of stories which I am very skeptical about and they didn't had any significant impact on me but they will make you think, analyze and react.

[Guneet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nighat Gandhi's short stories are always full of surprises. She beautifully portrays the mundane with extraordinary depiction. Love her writing. <3

[Sonali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short stories is like a box of assorted chocolates. You are going to find different flavours where you end up liking some, loving some, and you're indifferent to some. This book comprises 13 different stories where Nighat Gandhi's women deal with post-partum depression, poverty, sexual preferences, and household monotony.
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In these stories, at first glance, nothing much is happening . . . everything seems calm, but at the same time, you can see the characters fighting a battle within.

Some stories left a mark on me, while I couldn't wrap my head around a few; they felt incomplete to me.
These stories deal with oft-ignored problems of women living in a third-world country. It intimates the reader with the problems a woman goes through every day—by her family, especially, husbands.

I feel these stories uplift you without being in your face. Totally recommend this if you're looking for feminist fiction.