Two Plays – The Sahyadri Saga and The World of Swayamvara
₹199.00
Author: Akshara K V Translator: Jayanth Kodkani
These two plays negotiate with the real problems of contemporary India. If Sahyadri Kanda is about the ripples caused in the life of the people in a village on the Western Coast which will soon have a nuclear plant, Swayamvaraloka, is an allegorical narrative set in a small village that extends to include the larger contemporary world. Both the plays dwell on the seeming binaries of village-city, success-failure, modern-traditional while examining the nature of human relationships in the changing world. These plays also reflect an ambition to elevate the real experience to a mythical level. While most playwrights attempt to echo contemporary concerns by reinterpreting history and mythology, for these plays, the epics, their grandeur, the struggle, the wars are not episodes that happen in kingdoms and palaces and battlefields, they are also that which takes place in the microworld of one’s consciousness. Each character in these plays find their own dharma, yet it offers no model for the reader, and remains only a pointer to the complex process of finding it.
Also available on![]() |
eBook available on![]() |
Format |
---|
Related products
-
Unheard Sounds Flow On
Author: K Mahalinga, Translator: T K Ravindran
In spite of being one of the oldest members of the Dravidian family of languages, Tulu, unfortunately, has not yet found the recognition that it richly deserves in the modern world. Since modernity privileges the written over the spoken, the Tulu language that is abundantly blessed with oral literature has been placed on the fringes of modern literary world. Ironically, Tulu is still engaged in a desperate fight for official status in a country that boasts of its cultural and linguistic diversity. The motives behind the translation of Nanajjer Sude Tirgayer, hailed as the first modern Tulu novel, into English refuse to remain apolitical in this context.
The novel, which has already been translated into Kannada, Konkani and Malayalam, beautifully captures the pulse of rusticity that characterizes the life of a village community that lived its life with its love-hate relationship with nature, more than 75 years ago in a Tulu speaking village in the south-western part of Karnataka. Besides bringing alive the socio-cultural practices that find their articulation through the natural linguistic plurality ingrained in the village psyche, the novel touches upon the duality of human nature that leaves man perennially condemned to an inner crisis.
Interested customers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
Saga of the Uprooted
Author: Ranga Hari, Translator: Saratchandra Shenoi
This English translation of Visthapanachi Katha, a Konkani Khanda Kavya, depicts the saga of the migration of the Konkani community from Goa to a land far away from home. This collection of poems encapsulates the reign of a colonial power over the region of Goa that began with the entry of the Portuguese in the 16th century. It illustrates the displacement of the Konkani people and their resurgence at Cochin port. The poems describe the transformation of Goa – both culturally and topographically – and the people of Goa who were plundered, displaced, uprooted, and were forced to strip off their culture and identity. The poet is unfolding the tale of his very own ancestors by tracing out these events and graphically portraying the plight of the Konkani people. Saratchandra Shenoi, the author of this English translation, is a multilingual translator and a Sahitya Akademi Award winning (Antarnad – 1999) Konkani poet based in Kochi. He has over twenty books to his credit which include collections of poetry, works of fiction and non-fiction, translations, edited anthologies and language guides. Ranga Hari is the author of the Konkani original text titled Visthapanachi Katha. He has written more than twenty-five books in different languages, and was associated with Bharatiya Sikshan Mandal and Vidya Bharati.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
-
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.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
-
A Bond So Sacred
A Bond So Sacred tells the story of Raman, a satyagrahi, who adopts Kokila, an orphan. He leaves the five year old in the care of his mother while he plunges into the freedom struggle. His nationalist fervour, however, clashes with his love for Amina, his charming neighbour who wants parental approval to their marriage. Raman’s mother is as staunch a Brahmin as Amina’s father is a Muslim. Will Raman be able to get their consent? The joy of India becoming an independent nation is marred by Gandhiji’s death. Raman’s fellow satyagrahis have gone their ways and he finds himself with no role to play in a rapidly changing country. Meanwhile, Kokila, his protégée, has her own battles to fight. As the years bring them together again, Kokila discovers truths about Raman that she would never have imagined. She is forced to confront the ghosts of the past, his and hers.
-
Vaidehi Dhvani
Author: Vaidehi
ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಪುಸ್ತಕವು ಮುಂದಿನ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ವೈದೇಹಿಯವರ ಧ್ವನಿ ಮತ್ತು ನಿರೂಪಣೆಯನ್ನು ದಾಖಲಿಸುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನವಾಗಿದೆ. ಅವರ ಕಥೆಗಳ ನಿರೂಪಣೆಯು ಕುಂದಾಪುರದ ಆಡುಭಾಷೆಯ ಶ್ರೀಮಂತಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಅದರಾಚೆಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಏಕತೆಯ ಭಾವನೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಎತ್ತರದಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಐದು ಕಥೆಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಏಳು ಕವಿತೆಗಳ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಅವರು ಓದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಆಯ್ದ ಕಥೆಗಳು ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾದವುಗಳಾಗಿವೆ ಆದರೆ ಅದನ್ನು ವಿಭಿನ್ನವಾಗಿಸುವುದು ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಓದುವ ವಿಧಾನವಾಗಿದೆ. ಪ್ರತಿ ಪದ, ಪ್ರತಿ ವಿರಾಮಚಿಹ್ನೆ, ಪ್ರತಿ ವಿರಾಮ, ಅವರ ಧ್ವನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ತುಂಬಾ ವಿಭಿನ್ನವಾಗಿದೆ. “ವೈದೇಹಿ ಧ್ವನಿ” ಎಂಬ ಹೆಸರನ್ನು ಅವರ ಧ್ವನಿಯ ನಾದದ ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟವನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಸಲು ನೀಡಲಾಗಿದೆ ಆದರೆ ಅದು ಕೇಳುಗ ಅಥವಾ ಓದುಗನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊಸ ಶಕ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಹುಟ್ಟುಹಾಕುತ್ತದೆ. ಆಕೆಯ ಕಥೆಗಳನ್ನು ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ಮಾಡಲು ಬಯಸುವವರಿಗೆ ಅನುಕೂಲವಾಗುವಂತೆ ಆಡಿಯೋ ಸಿಡಿಯು ಪಠ್ಯ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಸಹ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ವಿವಿಧ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾನಿಲಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅನೇಕ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು ಅಧ್ಯಯನದ ವಿಷಯವಾಗಿ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
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.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
-
If we meet again we shall smile
Author: Anushua Chakrabarti
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.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
-
A Handful of Sesame
Author: 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.