Swapna Saraswatha
₹530.00
Author: Gopalakrishna Pai Translator: Sumathi Shenoy, M R Rakshith, Savita Sastri
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.
Out of stock
| Author | M R Rakshith, Savita Sastri, Sumathi Shenoy, Gopalakrishna Pai |
|---|---|
| Format |
Related products
-
Colours of the Rainbow
₹450.00Author: Umesh Bhat
The author, through Colours of the Rainbow, tells us that everyone is destined for his/her own rainbow with a pot of gold at the other end if, one has a will, works hard on it, and with a little bit of luck. The book narrates the dream journey of a village boy.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
A Handful of Sesame
₹310.00Author: Srinivas B Vaidya, Translator: Maithreyi Karnoor
With a captivating start, A Handful of Sesame plunges us into the heart of the dying years of the 1857 mutiny. But the mutiny is largely a backdrop to the novel. When Kamalanabh of Kashi is manipulated by an impoverished Brahmin of Navalgund into marrying his daughter, the novel becomes basically the story of an internal migration. This is rare, and it remains one of the strengths of the novel. We are so used to speaking of migration across the postcolonial bridge and accredited national borders that we forget that India is a country of endless internal migrations – in the past and the present.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
Just a few pages: Some Memories of Saraswatibai Rajwade
₹210.00Author: Vaidehi, Translator: Deepa Ganesh
This book is a coming together of two women writers of modern Kannada literature; one from its early period, the other, a contemporary. Saraswati Bai Rajwade, the early writer, became a fable, a mythology, leaving behind only the shadows of her writing. Vaidehi, the contemporary writer, reinvents Rajwade from the folds of history and gives her a life in the present. Saraswati Bai Rajwade was born into a poor family in the Dakshina Kannada of yore. By chance, she stepped into theatre and later into films. But all the glory that came to her unexpectedly, vanished just as suddenly. She later became the wife of a rich and high official, travelled abroad and underwent immense suffering. In her pain and loneliness, she took to books and also began to write and attained glory as a writer. In the last years of her life, she returned to a life of austerity and anonymity. Vaidehi has collected bits and pieces from her life and writing, presenting before us a unique tapestry. In this tapestry, Vaidehi?s perceptions criss-cross with Rajwade?s life and writing. Art does not reside in the object, but in its close encounter with life. This work unfolds before us as a grand illustration of such twin narratives.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
Capturing the Cosmic Light – A Handbook of Astrophotography
₹670.00Author: Sathyakumar P M Sharma
The Handbook of Astrophotography is the first book dedicated to Astronomical Imaging through modest equipment, and the first to be published in India. It is a chronicle of the techniques learnt and employed by the author and is by no means proprietary. It is assumed that the reader is equipped with the basic knowledge to use a digital camera. After showing the many methods to capture the Cosmos, the book shows how to process these images. It is designed to be a handbook and not a user manual. The author hopes that the reader will be confident in astronomical imaging and develop his/her own techniques after reading the book. Sathyakumar started Astrophotography in January 2006 with a homemade wooden star-tracking mount and a camera borrowed from a friend. He later used his homemade Newtonian reflector telescope and an inexpensive digital camera to capture photos of the Moon. With an MSc in Aerospace engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, he joined Opticstar Ltd, as a design engineer. There he was trained on the latest of astronomical instruments available for the amateur astrophotographer and eventually purchased the Celestron C8 Schmidt cassegrain telescope and the CG-5 Equatorial mount. Currently, he uses a GSO 6 inch RC telescope and an HEQ5-PRO computerized mount as well as an Orion 80ED Apochromatic telescope for astrophotography. He also owns an Astrotrac to take wide field vistas of the Cosmos. He is now employed as a Scientific Officer at Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion Society, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of Karnataka.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
The Practice of Geopolitics
₹850.00Author: M D Nalapat
Intended to be a Practioner’s Guide to Geopolitics, the book provides a look into the thought processes that generate correct and timely analysis of global events. Geopolitics needs to weave within its analytical grasp economics, society, strategy and even culture, as the science deals with overall national capabilities as well as the mutal synergy and frictions between nations. Although a broad range of subjects has been covered in the book, each is anchored in the ground reality of events having a profound impact on the lives of citizens and on world events. The growing interconnectedness of the globe has resulted in a need to do away with the popular west centric models of international relations and to view events not through that single prism but from a holistic viewpoint that accepts the relevance and maturity of different histories and geographies. What the book provides is an alternative Weltanschauung to the dominant models of geopolitical analysis, so that the science is enabled to cross beyond the narrow boundaries which have confined. The scope and applicability of its analysis. The rise of Asia needs a geopolitical vision unique to the continent, and this is what has been provided by Professor Nalapat.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
The Gandhi Cap and Other Short Stories
₹345.00Author: Raja Radhikaraman Prasad Sinha, Translator: Mahendra P Srivastava
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.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
Ancient Stone Riddles: Megaliths of the Indian Subcontinent
₹185.00Ancient Stone Riddles is an introduction to the fascinating but less-known monuments called megaliths in the context of the Indian subcontinent. The book seeks to present the current understanding among archaeologists and other researchers in a lucid manner to the general reader, while stimulating thought on the many questions that linger about these remnants from our distant past and the people and cultures that built them. It also discusses recent research about the knowledge systems possessed by the megalith builders, including the possibility that some of these monuments were erected to observe celestial cycles.
Interested customers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
Pot of Butter and other short stories
₹250.00Author: 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.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on