Categories: | Fiction, Indic languages, Kannada, Translation |
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If we meet again we shall smile
People leave our lives. Some simply walk away from our world while some leave this world altogether. Through visuals, poetry and short stories, the author has a dialogue with the reader that takes them both through a journey full of characters that are no more, and yet have shaped the story. This fictional dialogue is a short trip down memory lane that visits the relationships one keeps hidden beneath.
Anushua Chakrabarti, originally from Kolkata, is a wandering minstrel. She lives on travel and music. Anushua has completed her MBA from TAPMI, Manipal, India, post which she worked in top technology brands like HP and Microsoft. She is presently back in Kolkata, driving social service through her acquired experience. Anushua has faced several childhood traumas but she believes she is what she is today, not in spite of it; but because of it.
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The Gandhi Cap and Other Short Stories by Raja Radhikaraman Prasad Singh
The book The Gandhi Cap and Other Short Stories offers a glimpse into the lifetime of work of a forgotten pioneer of Hindi fiction, Raja Radhikaraman Prasad Sinha. It is ironic that one cannot find a single book by this author who was so dedicated to Hindi literature. The stories in this collection are a testament not only to the contributions of Sinha to Hindi fiction but also, reflect the depth of political and social milieu of the times. Many readers will be moved by the elements patriotism, feminism, secularism, and spiritualism in these stories. Strong female characters are common in most of these stories. These characters provide both a moral fulcrum to the stories as well as reflect the struggle of women to balance prevailing customs with modernity. Some of these stories provide sharp political and social commentary that still have currency (The Gandhi Cap). Sinha incorporates a unique style of writing that uses lyrical prose and poetry together. He even employs a dialogue between the storyteller and a social gathering in the form of an epilogue, to offer a discourse on social dilemma about women?s plight to become modern while admonishing them to retain their Indian essence (An Expensive Bargain). We hope the readers will enjoy this wonderful collection.
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Swapnasaraswatha
Swapna Saraswatha is the saga of migration of a community called Saraswaths in the west coast of India, extending from Goa to the south of Mangalore. It captures the dominance of a colonial power over the region that began with the entry of the Portuguese about four hundred years ago. The novel is a graphic description of the displacement of this strongly-rooted community which saw its resurrection in a new area. In the course of its narrative, the novel traces the gradual changes in the structure of the family that moved from a closely knit joint family of the bygone era to the nuclear family. It also deals with the factors that are responsible for the change in value systems of individuals in the wake of such paradigm shifts. With its vast canvas, it remarkably weaves fiction with myth and history, peppered with cultural details and linguistic nuances. The narration in Swapna Saraswatha progresses in the form of an epic detailing the story of nine generations spread over a period of two hundred and fifty years from 1510 to about 1760. It encompasses more than a hundred and fifty characters which include Hindus, Muslims, Christians, chieftains, traders, farmers, priests and black magicians, and covers a range of themes spread across folk tales, legends, armies, myths and a sprinkling of history.
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Akka Mahadevi, the questioning poet-saint
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.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
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Sati Kamale
This eponymous novel is centred on Kamale, who is an embodiment of wifely virtue. For fifteen long years Kamale lives the life of a widow to the outside world, nurturing the hopes of reuniting with the husband one day. Alone in the room, each night she wears her marks of a married woman with the dagger gifted by Umesha next to her. It could be seen as an exposition on the then existing indigenous discourse in India in the 19th century and early 20th century. Kamale, in her rigorous commitment and in retrieving her husband from ‘death’, is fashioned after Savithri in an intertextual reference to Mahabharata’s episode of “Satyavan and Savithri”. The novel might look conservative for the present-day reader, but it is a representative literary work of the time when Paniyadi, among many others, wanted to regain the independent status of the Tulu language which had somehow slipped out of its pedestal.
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Bamonn
Konkani Roman Catholic Christians were converted from other groups by Goan Missionaries long back, keeping the caste system tradition to a large extent in layers such as the Bamonn, the Charodi, the Gawdi, the Nendar, the Shudra, etc. At the time of marriages and other social gatherings they continue to consider caste system norms and customs in the community. Caste system in Indian Christians is vividly described in the novel Bamonn. Christopher Pai of Kalyanpura hails from a Bamonn family and takes great pride in his ancestry. He believes in the stories about his Konkani Roman Catholic ancestors from his elders and about their being true Christians, holding on to their faith despite tremendous pressure to convert to Islam during Tipu Sultan?s regime. He also believes Bamonns are superior to other Christians in the community. After retiring from his job of a Headmaster, he refuels his obsession to retrace his roots and find out the truth about his ancestors. In his journey of self-assurance and faith, will he succeed in his mission to convince his family, his children and the community at large of his glorious ancestry and in still pride in the next generation? . . .
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The Zoo In My Backyard
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.