Remaindered People & Other Stories by Pratap Reddy

Remaindered People is the title story for this impressive collection. Brij is a young man who is currently unemployed and seemingly without direction, yet when he accepts a position as a caregiver to his friend’s father, he comes to genuinely care for the aging patriarch. This piece establishes a very fine standard for the rest of the narratives in ways that are both poignant and authentic. For instance, while the older gentleman’s wealth and status allow him to live with servants and care givers in his own home, he also ponders the notion that:

Old age homes are our ultimate refuge, I suppose. We are past our prime and have limited utility. Nobody really wants us — like books which have no takers. We are remaindered people.

As the story unfolds, it is this man’s generosity and privilege that paradoxically change the trajectory of Brij’s life. The old gentleman and Brij are only two among the many three-dimensional characters who come to life in each of the narratives.

The seamless stories in this collection endeavour to reveal the hidden and often painful realities for individuals who are navigating the difficulties of change in their lives. Dislocation thus becomes a key theme that links each piece to the others, as part of a thought-provoking set.

In a heart-breaking piece titled “Sweet Memories”, a widow makes the move from India to Canada to live with her son and his wife. Having sold all of her possessions, left all her friends and everything that is familiar behind, she attempts to adjust to living in her son’s home. Although we are initially led to believe that her daughter-in-law in particular has been judgemental and cruel, Reddy abruptly surprises the reader by demonstrating why the couple have acted as they have done, revealing the pressures and concerns they are endeavouring to manage.

Reddy explores the importance of cultural practice to his characters in ways that highlight the complexities of moving from a particular set of dominant religious and cultural traditions to new situations where individuals feel unmoored and challenged by the unfamiliar even as they endeavour to embrace their new realities.

Written with an exquisite use of language, the description throughout the work is vividly drawn and utterly engaging. From “Dancing on the Beach”:

The beach is deserted. Desolate dunes rise and fall like gigantic waves. The sky is grey and cheerless, the water, cold and uninviting. At the horizon, heaven and earth have indistinguishably become one.
Hoping to sort out her thoughts, she has been trudging along the shore for nearly a mile. She can hear the strains of distant music over the bedlam in her head. The music is so soft that it seems to emanate from another world. Yet, the music is more palpable than her immediate surroundings: the painful sand underfoot, the unruly waves slapping the shore, the trees swaying in the wind. Growing in volume, the music takes complete hold of her, overshadowing the bitter, disjointed thoughts whirling in her mind.
Thoughts of Adi and his Mamma.
The beat of the music acquires an exhilarating urgency, prompting her to break into a run. She leaps about, kicking up clouds of dust. The concerns weighing on her mind begin to melt and drift away. Prancing and pirouetting, she begins to dance with a never-before-felt abandon.

A breathtaking and profound collection and one that should incite deep reflection about our dualities.

An underwriter by day and a writer by night, Pratap Reddy writes about the angst and the agonies (on occasion the ecstasies) of newly arrived immigrants. He is the author of the novel Ramya’s Treasure and the short story collection Weather Permitting & Other Stories (Guernica Editions). Remaindered People is his second collection of short stories. He lives in Mississauga with his wife and son.

Publisher: Guernica Editions (March 1 2025)
Paperback 8″ x 5″ | 200 pages
ISBN: 9781771839365

Lucy E. M. Black

Website

Lucy E.M. Black (she/her/hers) is the author of The Marzipan Fruit Basket, Eleanor Courtown, Stella’s Carpet, The Brickworks and Class Lessons: Stories of Vulnerable Youth. A Quilting of Scars will be released October 2025. Her award-winning short stories have been published in Britain, Ireland, USA and Canada. She is a dynamic workshop presenter, experienced interviewer and freelance writer. She lives with her partner in the small lakeside town of Port Perry, Ontario, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, First Nations.

Lucy E. M. Black

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