One Girl Many Lives: My Two Cents on the Anthology

One Girl Many Lives is an anthology of five stories written by five authors, but it’s not as simple as that.

Each story is not written by a single author but all of them together. One author begins the story, and after writing some content, passes the baton to another author. And, that author, after writing some part, passes the baton to some other author. One starts the story, and someone else ends it. In the process, every author gets the chance to write the beginning and the ending of a story but not of the same story.

Another unique thing about this anthology is that all the stories are inspired by a single photograph in which a girl is appeared to be running.

It’s usual that different people interpret the same photograph in a different manner and write different stories on the basis of their interpretation.

But, it’s unusual when, despite having a different perspective, people help each other in visualizing other’s perspectives. This message alone is sufficient to make the book One Girl Many Lives stand out in a crowd.

Team of the Anthology

The Team of One Girl Many Lives comprises of Abitha S, Ajit Yadav, Anshu Bhojnagarwala, Jithin S, Priya Bajpai, and Sona Grover.

The picture that’s the point of inspiration for all the stories in the anthology is clicked by Jithin. He’s also one of the writers of the stories along with Ajit, Anshu, Priya, and Sona. Abitha is the editor of the book.

Stories in One Girl Many Lives

The first story in the anthology, The Lone Flight, is written in the backdrop of communal riots that happened between Hindus and Muslims during the India-Pakistan partition. It’s the story of a girl who was running to save her life. You do not travel in the outside-world only. There’s an inside journey as well. The story covers both.

The name of the second story, Black July, itself reveals the premise of the story. It’s about a girl whose house was burnt during the Sri Lankan civil war in July 1983.

The third story, Love2K, is a love story set in the year 2000. It’s the year in which there’s worldwide panic whether computers could differentiate between the years 2000 & 1900. The painting of a running girl plays a crucial role in this love story.

The fourth story is The Runaway Princess. It’s clear from the title of the story that it’s about a running princess. She’s a direct descendent of the French monarchs. It’s a kind of thriller.

The fifth story, Spaces, is set in the year 2135. It’s about the society in which the concepts of currency and religion do not exist. It appears as a fusion attempt of Nolan’s Interstellar and Ekta’s Mission Over Mars.

Writing Style

The narration is steady and in the flow. There’s a bit of irregularity in pace, and it’s obvious because the stories are the result of collaborative writing by various writers. But, the uneven pace doesn’t interfere with the flow & the reading experience of the story. That’s a good thing.

Though the ending of the stories is a bit rushed, the best part is that the writing style is in sync. Without careful observation, one cannot tell at which point of the story one author leaves and another joins. Since the stories are written by various writers, it’s obvious their grip on the English language will be on different levels, and it’ll reflect in their choice of words.

In some places, very precise words are used, like ‘doffing,’ but some blunders are there, too. The word ‘cremation’ is used instead of ‘burial’ in the context of the death of a Muslim woman in the story The Lone Flight. Two different spellings, Céline & Celine, are used for the name of the protagonist in the story The Runaway Princess.

The footnotes are given for the non-English words but only for the story The Lone Flight though other stories, too, have non-English words.

Portrayal of Women in the Anthology

Women are shown as smart, strong, and practical except in the story Spaces. Women are involved in physical fights in the stories The Lone Fight and The Runaway Princess. The decision-making ability & practical approach of the women in the story Love2K is commendable.

But, everything is ruined in Spaces. There’s a dialogue in the story that reflects misogyny: “They put all women in the mission. Not a single man.” The story is of the time when currency & religion cease to exist but sexism prevails.

On minute examination, it seems that every character in the story Spaces is irresponsible and dumb, irrespective of one’s gender. The story is of the year 2135. It made me dread the future.

Quotes from One Girl Many Lives

• People can be both unimaginably kind and incredibly cruel.
• The only real moment was the one I was living.
• Nothing came from nothing. There had to be a source.
• Every person who has come to this earth is destined to die at a certain date and time; neither sooner nor later. If death is waiting for me, you cannot save me, and if my time hasn’t come yet, all the underworlds and mafias of this world together cannot harm me.

Takeaways from One Girl Many Lives

• One can learn teamwork. Despite having different perspectives and writing capabilities, various authors come together to write the stories jointly.
• One can learn the art of writing different stories on the same idea. Both the stories, The Lone Flight and Black July, are based on riots. In The Lone Flight, the tension was between Hindu and Muslim communities during the partition of India, and in Black July, the conflict was between Sinhalese and Tamil communities during the Sri Lankan Civil War. But, the treatment & detailing are entirely different.   
• One can learn how to use real events effectively for story building. The incidence of the young boy who was made to sit completely naked outside a shop in the story Black July actually happened in real during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
• One can learn the art of spinning the stories that are neither boring nor move forward quickly.
• One can make use of spiritual insights & relationship tips given in the book.