Lotus Pond

Sümi and the Dance of the Dark Spirits

Toinali Sema

₹199.00

Sümi and the Dance of the Dark Spirits

Toinali Sema

Author: Toinali Sema

Join the shy Moi, spirited Sumi and brave Vikai in this folk-fantasy adventure of self-discovery, bravery, mystery, and above all loyalty and friendship as they embark on a journey into unfamiliar territories and encounter supernatural beings, get chased by spirits, befriend dragonflies, meets the wind family, and fight the dark spirits.

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₹199.00

C N Ramachandran, M S Raghunath, K S Nisar Ahmed

Caught in the World of Binaries: Selected Poems of K S Nisar Ahmed

₹310.00

C N Ramachandran, M S Raghunath, K S Nisar Ahmed

Caught in the World of Binaries: Selected Poems of K S Nisar Ahmed

Author: K S Nisar Ahmed Editors: C N Ramachandran, M S Raghunath

Professor K S Nisar Ahmed (b 1936) is a geologist by profession and a major writer in Kannada. His first collection of poems, Manasu Gandhi Bazar (My Mind is like Gandhi Bazar) was published in 1960, and since then he has published poetry (15 collections), prose (five collections), and translations from Shakespeare and Neruda. He has been honoured with many awards, including ‘Padmashri’, Honorary D Litt (Kuvempu University), and Pampa Prashasti (Karnataka Government). Living between two languages and two cultures, Prof. Nisar has successfully achieved the balance necessary for the tight-rope walking as a poet. He believes that, “Only when you understand another religion (or culture or language), you really understand your own religion (or culture or language).” The present volume of 100 selected poems exhibits the multifaceted poetry of Nisar that reflects his creative pluralism. The 13 translators of the poems in this volume include A K Ramanujan, V K Gokak and Tejaswini Niranjana.

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₹310.00

The Zoo In My Backyard

Usha Rajagopalan

₹290.00

The Zoo In My Backyard

Usha Rajagopalan

Author: Usha Rajagopalan

What can you expect in a family of quirky adults, hyperactive children, and an assortment of pets? The author and her siblings shared their childhood with Kesavan, the incorrigibly curious black monkey; Judie, the nimble giant squirrel; Mini, the shy mouse deer that strayed; Psitta, the cackling parakeet; Devil, the runaway hound and many more creatures great and small. The adventures of the children and antics of their pets, together with the adults in the family make for a whole lot of fun and laughter ? not just in the backyard but indoors as well.

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₹290.00

Akka Mahadevi, the questioning poet-saint

D A Shankar

₹255.00

Akka Mahadevi, the questioning poet-saint

D A Shankar

Author: D A Shankar

This book presents the mystical ruminations and literary excellence of Akka Mahadevi, the earliest example of a gender-liberated woman writer, credited with the composition of over four hundred and forty remarkably self-explorative Vachanas. Akka Mahadevi represents a powerfully authentic female voice of the radical, egalitarian Sharana Movement, which questioned the socially established barrier between genders and ushered in a world of socio-cultural equality.

In this book, the author explores the questioning spirit intrinsic to Akka Mahadevi’s life and writings, as she questions the widely held conventional norms: the traditional husband-wife relationship, her parents, elders; she questions Basavanna and Allama for their habituated patriarchal manner of speaking, and she bravely questions her personal deity whom she loves and adores. Apart from discerning a credible ‘history’ and background to Akka’s works, this book makes available a rendition of her selectively profound and memorable Vachana in modern English, that crosses the ?the gulf of language and the gulf of time.

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₹255.00

B Gangadharamurthy, Na D'Souza

Kaitan Gandhi’s Freedom Struggle

₹280.00

B Gangadharamurthy, Na D'Souza

Kaitan Gandhi’s Freedom Struggle

Author: Na D’Souza Translator: B Gangadharamurthy

Kaitan Gandhiya Swatantrya Horata is one of the very few novels written in Kannada on the Gandhian phase of the Indian freedom struggle. It is not globally unknown that Gandhi not only changed the idiom of the struggle and successfully experimented his lifetime-belief in non-violence on the vast canvas but also made it decisively inclusive. Kaitan Gandhi’s Freedom Struggle thematically illuminates these two crucial aspects of the great struggle and grapples with the naked truth as Charles, the priest in the novel revealingly says,The rulers, whosoever it is, are rulers. Caste, colour, or country does not matter to them. All are wicked. Like in all true works of realist literature, the author, here too, creatively blends the individual, the social, and the historical in such a way that the novel poignantly unfolds the true spirit of quest for freedom and humanity.

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₹280.00

Sa Usha, Sunanda Belgaumkar, Vaijayanti Suryanarayana

Pot of Butter and other short stories

₹250.00

Sa Usha, Sunanda Belgaumkar, Vaijayanti Suryanarayana

Pot of Butter and other short stories

Author: Sunanda Belgaumkar Translator: Sa Usha, Vaijayanti Suryanarayana

Pot of Butter and other Short Stories is a collection of nine short stories, originally composed by Sunanda Belgaumkar in Kannada, handpicked and translated from her collections – Kajjaya and Koduvudenu Kombudenu. The bulk of her literary work including the stories in this book are inspired by the experiences in her early life, in the rustic and robust atmosphere of Dharwad. Her stories are predominantly semiautobiographical, laced with a liberal dose of artistic freedom.

This collection weaves together her writings on the underprivileged and marginalized as seen from the comfort of her palatial home, but rendered with compassion and empathy. Often, we find her narrative infused with self-directed questions such as, “What if I was in her shoes? ” or “Could that have been me? ” These stories are reflections on human nature, suffering, and destiny. There is hope, there is despair. There is love, there is longing. There is defeat, and there is triumph. In her stories, an oft-recurring metaphor for picking up one’s life after loss is a scorching summer followed by a torrential downpour and subsequently a plant springing to life.

As a translation, this book attempts to introduce Sunanda Belgaumkar’s literary and artistic creations to the non-Kannada reader, retaining as much of the indigenous elements of the original writings as possible. In doing so, it seeks to preserve the cultural climate of North Karnataka as it was around fifty years ago.

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₹250.00

The Other Face

N T Bhat, Na Mogasale

₹550.00

The Other Face

N T Bhat, Na Mogasale

Author: Na Mogasale Translator: N T Bhat

Set in a fictitious village called Kanthapura in Kasaragod district, Mukhāntara spans across the life of seven generations of a Havyaka Brahmin family. A story about the realities of living in a society marked by caste distinctions, the desire to find communal harmony and the tribulations of the characters through the entirety of the novel, it is also a tale of changing times and people. After unexpectedly coming into possession of a huge portion of land, Thirumalēshwara Bhat of Īshwarīmūle becomes a satisfied man. But childless, Thirumalēshwara Bhat and his wife Pārvathakka decide to adopt Venkappaiah and also give shelter to his widowed mother, Rathnamma. Venkappaiah is to inherit Thirumalēshwara’s vast wealth but when Krishnaiah, the illegitimate child of Thirumalēshwara and Rathnamma is born, rivalry ensues. Through the overlapping narratives of the characters, we get a glimpse into their journey from tradition to modernity. The characters strive to reshape new values when old values are slowly questioned and erased as they move on and are swept along in the waves of globalization.

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₹550.00

Sangita Lokadrishti

Sumangala

₹295.00

Sangita Lokadrishti

Sumangala

Author: Sumangala

ತಂದೆ-ಮಗಳ ಸುರಬಹಾರಿನ ಸಂಗೀತಬಂಧದ ಚಿತ್ರಣದಿಂದ ಆರಂಭಗೊಳ್ಳುವ ಈ ಕಿರುಕೃತಿಯು ಸಾಗರ ವೀಣೆ ರೂಪುಗೊಳಿಸಿದ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ತಂದೆ-ಮಗಳ ಸಂಗೀತಬಂಧದ ಚಿತ್ರಣದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮುಕ್ತಾಯವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಲ್ವರು ಸಂಗೀತಗಾರರ ಬದುಕಿನ ಕೆಲವು ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶಗಳು, ಸಂಗೀತಪಯಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಸಾಗಿದ ಹಾದಿ, ಕಠಿಣ ಸಂದರ್ಭಗಳು, ಅವರ ಸಾಂಗೀತಿಕ ಮನೋಧರ್ಮ, ರಾಗರೂಪದ ಕುರಿತ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಕೋನ, ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ ಅಂಶಗಳ ಸ್ಥೂಲ ಚಿತ್ರಣವಿದೆ.

ಸುರಬಹಾರಿನ ದಂತಕಥೆಯೆಂದೇ ಹೇಳಬಹುದಾದ ವಿದುಷಿ ಅನ್ನಪೂರ್ಣಾ ದೇವಿಯವರ ಖಾಸಗಿ ಬದುಕು, ಏಕಾಂತ ನಿಗೂಢವೆನ್ನಿಸುವ ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಮೈಹರ್ ಘರಾನೆಯ ಸ್ವರಸಂಪತ್ತನ್ನು ಶಿಷ್ಯರಿಗೆ ಧಾರೆಯೆರೆದು ಕಲಿಸುತ್ತ, ಹಲವರನ್ನು ಮೇರು ಕಲಾವಿದರಾಗಿ ರೂಪುಗೊಳಿಸಿದ ಬಗೆಯೂ ಅನನ್ಯ. ಕೃತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿತ್ರಿಸಿದ ಇನ್ನುಳಿದ ಮೂವರು ಸಂಗೀತಗಾರರು ನಮ್ಮ ನೆರೆಯ ಪಾಕಿಸ್ತಾನದ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ಸಂಗೀತ ಪರಂಪರೆಯನ್ನು ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಸಮೃದ್ಧಗೊಳಿಸಿದವರು.

“ಏ ದಯ್ಯಾ… ಕಹಾಂ ಗಯೇ ವೇ ಲೋಗ್… ಬ್ರಿಜ ಕೆ ಬಸಯ್ಯಾ…”

ಮನುಷ್ಯರ ನಡುವೆ ಹತ್ತುಹಲವು ಬಗೆಯ ದ್ವೇಷದ ಗೋಡೆಗಳು ಎದ್ದು ನಿಂತಿರುವ ಇಂದಿನ ದಿನಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಭಿನ್ನತೆಗಳಿದ್ದರೂ ಪರಸ್ಪರ ಸಂವಾದ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಆ ಜನರನ್ನು, ಆ ಕಾಲಘಟ್ಟವನ್ನು ಮತ್ತೆ ಕಂಡುಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಬಹುಶಃ ಇಂತಹ ಸಂಗೀತಗಾರರ ಕೊರಳೊಳಗಿನ, ಬೆರಳೊಳಗಿನ ಸ್ವರಗಳೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಕೈಹಿಡಿದು ಮುನ್ನಡೆಸಬೇಕಿದೆ.

Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.

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₹295.00