New short story anthology explores life through the lens of disability

‘There’s a woman. There’s a woman who isn’t me. I don’t know who she is….’ Begins the title story of Half Moon. It is about a woman with bipolar disorder. The condition makes her way too pumped up with energy that she can do nothing but paint a spot on the wall all night, and on other days, she can barely stir from her bed. In under four pages, the story conveys the conflicting phases of life of people living with the mental condition, one that renders them a half-moon as well as a half-shadow.

The anthology of short stories by 20-year-old Iniya, started as a school project when she was in grade 11. She wrote five stories based on interviews she held with people with disabilities in and around Coimbatore. She went on to add five more to the collection, which has been brought out by Chennai-based Her Stories, a publishing house that focuses on the voices of women and those from marginalised sections of society. The book was recently released in Coimbatore.

Iniya, author of Half Moon
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Special arrangement

The Coimbatore-based author, who is now pursuing her Bachelor’s in Mathematics in Bengaluru, says that she chose to write about people with disabilities because, “I wanted to create awareness on what they go through every day.” Iniya didn’t have the heart to let go of the stories after she was done with her school project. “I felt it would be an injustice to the people I wrote about if I didn’t bring their stories to the outside world,” she says.

The interviews, says Iniya, were facilitated by DoctorNet India, a city-based NGO run by her parents. “They make healthcare accessible for disadvantaged people, particularly the rural and tribal population,” she explains, adding that volunteers act as a bridge between people who require care, and doctors in the city.

The stories, written in first person, convey the pain of people with disabilities. But Iniya does not over-dramatise. Her strength lies in her simple language and the straightforward way she chooses to present issues surrounding disability. Each story comes with a note about the particular disability it talks about, this includes cerebral palsy, polio, muscular atrophy, autism and dementia among others. Illustrations by Gayatri Sharma add depth to the narrative.

Iniya focuses on the major life events that the people she interacted with conveyed to her. She recalls how many of them opened up to her, narrating incidents that made them sad as well as happy. “I noted down the little details, such as their interactions with their family members,” she says. Now that the book is out, Iniya has immersed herself in her favourite subject, Mathematics. She doesn’t know if there are more books in her though, but is always open to the idea of writing.

To buy the book, visit halfmoon.book on Instagram.