A Few Ugly Humans

Hareendran Kallinkeel
World Audience, Inc. (2006)
ISBN 0978808673
Reviewed by Richard Blake for Reader Views (12/06)


Influenced by his father, an agricultural reformer, his mother, an educator, his grandmother, steeped in cultural folktales, and a career in police work, Hareendran writes from a broad base of personal experiences about his native country, India.

In this collection of short stories Kallinkeel presents an honest glimpse into the culture of India.  His writing is imaginative, the stories often heartbreaking.  He addresses real life issues faced by the peoples of India.  They deal with the threat of globalization, and technical advances, with misunderstandings in family relationships, due to a younger generation becoming educated, and questioning their traditions. These confrontations often turn bad with unexpected twists of drama and tragedy.

The author has an uncanny ability to take the ugly and turn it into something beautiful. His writing includes the difficulties that come with political promises and deceptions, and politicians that use the poor as pawns in a struggle for power motivated by greed.

In a country steeped in ancient religions, black magic, superstitions, family deities, and cleansing rituals Kallinkeel has included stories reflecting a combination of sacred and sacrilege, demons and angels, as he exposes the complexities of a belief in reincarnation. From chanting mantras, to passing curses his people struggle with on a day to day basis in a land steeped in poverty and often in the midst of famine.

He writes using descriptive prose using a poetic metaphor.  Kallinkeel writes with integrity always seeking a higher level of living.  He writes in an effort to motivate the reader to strive for a sense of love, empathy, and under-standing of others.

 “A Few Ugly Humans” has challenged me to look for the beauty that lies beneath ugliness, and to look within myself to think “out of the box” to examine the pitfalls facing society each day, good and evil, right and wrong, beauty and ugliness. 

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