The Tiger's Share by Keshava Guha | Published by Hachette India

 

Title – The Tiger’s Share
Author – Keshava Guha
Genre – Contemporary Literature
Publisher – Hachette India (2025)
ISBN – 978-1399813389
Hardback – 246 pages
Buy – Amazon  

“Well, let me tell you. We - we humans - have decided that we are apart from life. Above life. Nature, after all, has rules that we don't set. It has limits. It has its own law of Karma. Everything you do has its consequence, has its response. We used to know all this. We have forgotten.”

The Tiger’s Share is a quiet storm of a novel. The multilayered story is set in present-day Delhi. A family's private conflicts become a lens through which we observe social and political shifts in India. 

The book opens with a jarring scene: a father resigns. Brahm Saxena, a retired accountant, calls a family meeting. He tells his children—Tara, a brilliant lawyer, and Rohit, a drifting son—that he is done. Done being a father. He wants to serve something larger now. The planet. The country. Maybe even the truth.

His personal choice ripples outward. It begins to mirror the novel’s core themes—ecological, political, and generational. One strange declaration turns into a story about the cost of ideals. 

This is the central storyline of The Tiger’s Share. We witness it all through Tara’s perspective. She sees the city clearly. Smog in the sky. Garbage on the streets. Thick air and how sweetness of a city gone bad. Tara narrates it all with a sharp eye. She is ambitious and restless. She wants to believe in something. But doubt creeps in. Maybe she isn’t who her father hoped she’d be.

There is another pair of siblings: Kunal and Lila. Rich, well-known, always at war. Kunal, the adopted son, believes he is “the chosen one.” He wants control, especially of the family business. Lila, born into the family, resists. She calls him entitled. Their fight exposes something raw: how power hides in gender and class.

Guha writes with sly observation. His sentences don’t shout. They smoulder. “You can lose a house in an earthquake, you can lose any investment in a recession, but education, you can’t lose. I believe,” there are layers of insight. 

His narration is elegant and witty. Every character feels made of bone and flesh—especially Brahm, a man shaped by loss and old ideals. He keeps a photograph of Bhagat Singh on his desk. Even in silence, he demands more of the world. His son Rohit, in contrast, turns angry, rants on YouTube.  

In Guha’s novel, Delhi is not just a city—it’s a character, a breathing place. And it is falling apart. The trees, the air, the light—everything is fading. The city decays, and we watch. Guha renders this decline. And what it feels like to live in its slow collapse.

'Delhi,' my father continued, 'well, there is no better place to see this than Delhi. What was Delhi? A perfect oasis. In the middle of a near-desert, a slice of green heaven, fed by a strong river. What have we made of Delhi? A place unfit for life. The river is a dry garbage dump. The water in our pipes is liquid refuse. The air- I won't tell you about the air. Every park is a monument to what we have done. What is a park? A temple of life. Our parks are temples of sickness. Every tree, every bird suffering, as if it has been told it must live but is stuck in a place no longer fit for living. Come to the mandi and you won't be able to show me one tomato that isn't sick and decaying.'

A strange coincidence: Ranthambhore, the national park, is the crown of my hometown. And it appears in the book. I won’t spoil the plot, but remember: the park matters and it holds weight in the story. The Tiger’s Share is a book about what we owe to each other, to our country, to the future. 

 About the Author

KESHAVA GUHA was born in Delhi and raised in Bangalore. He studied history and politics at Harvard, and writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. He writes regularly on politics, literature and sport for a host of publications. 

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Gulzar’s Caged: Memories Have Names | Translated by Sathya Saran

 

Title – Caged: Memories Have Names
Translated by – Sathya Saran 
Publisher – Penguin Hamish Hamilton
ISBN – 978-0670098231
Hardcover – 256 Pages
Buy – Amazon | Padhega India 

“I was trying to catch a butterfly. She escaped, but left her colours on my fingers.”

Gulzar opens his autobiography with a delicate image: a butterfly escapes from the poet’s grasp, but leaves its colours behind on his fingertips. Like a memory or trace of a loved one, the poet gathers its fleeting hues, whatever he can, and weaves them into verse.

Doesn’t the title Caged mislead at first? When I first heard it, the image of a prison came to my mind, a sense of forced confinement. But Gulzar, as always, reshapes the metaphor. The cage becomes an archive, a vessel for memory, and fragile memory needs to be preserved. These poems carry the names, the voices, the colours he refuses to let go.

Published as a bilingual edition, this book is a quiet gift to readers who know that to read Gulzar in the original is to hear the music whole. Sathya Saran has translated the book with grace. In her words, the process was “a journey through changing light,” a phrase that captures both the nature of memory and the pulse of his poetry.

Those who have read Actually, I Met Them... will recognise the theme: portraits, tributes, vignettes. But where that book offered prose, Caged is composed of more distilled and intimate poems. It’s less an autobiography than a play of light and shadow—part elegy, part celebration. The book is divided into four sections, the first anchored mainly in literary figures.

The first piece on Rabindranath Tagore — "a poet who stands like a crop, growing across all of Bengal." Gulzar recalls learning Bangla simply to read him. His lifelong reverence is no secret.

 

Then, Ghalib.

"ज़माना हर ज़बाँ में पढ़ रहा है अब,  तुम्हारे सब सुख़न ग़ालिब
समझते कितने हैं, ये तो वही समझें, या तुम समझो।"

 

Gulzar adds that he has read poets in every Indian language, but has never found another like Ghalib.

Across these pages, Shakespeare, Rumi, Jibanananda Das, and Nazim Hikmet emerge not merely as literary giants but as living presences, folded into the fabric of Gulzar’s memory. Neruda, Faiz, and Sunil Gangopadhyay each evoked not just for their words, but for the echo of their voices in his life. Take Namdeo Dhasal’s funeral, for instance: “even the flames from his pyre could not reduce the intensity of his poetry to ashes.” He was the people’s poet. A flag holder for the Dalit cause.

Gulzar is not just what he remembers, but how he remembers. There’s an anecdote with Kedarnath Singh: upon seeing the printed lyrics of Hamko Mann ki Shakti Dena, Singh was surprised. “Is this also written by you?” he asked. “This is sung in schools.” I bowed my head in acceptance. Then he said, “What a lucky man you are—tumhara kaam tumhare naam se aage nikal gaya.”

There is a poem dedicated to a girl with terminal cancer who once requested: “मुझको एक छोटे से शेर में सी दो / ‘अंजल’ लिखना / शायद मेरी आख़िरी शब है” And Gulzar, as promised, stitched her name into a verse. The gesture is tender, his writing shaped not by experience, but by empathy.

The book is rich with friendships—Javed Akhtar, Bimal Roy, Naseeruddin Shah. Of Shah, he writes: “Main adaakar hoon lekin / sirf adaakar nahin / waqt ki tasveer bhi hoon.” Gulzar also remembers Jagjit Singh: the very spirit of the ghazal, settled in him like musk in the navel of the deer. His voice, yes—but more than that, his thehrav, his ache.

Who can forget what he gave to Ghalib — Gulzar directing, Naseeruddin Shah inhabiting the poet, Jagjit giving voice to his wounds. Gulzar still calls it his most complete work. Perhaps because, for once, everything aligned. The finest artists, unguarded. And then—something like magic unfolds.

“उतरो आओ आँखों से काग़ज़ पर

तुम्हारी धुन पर कुछ अल्फ़ाज़ रख दूँ!”  

Pancham, Salil Chowdhury, Kanu Roy, all remembered not just as co-workers but as co-dreamers. Friends: in creation, in mischief, in melancholy. He remembers Asha Boudi—Asha Bhonsle—not with formality but with fondness, a sapling of musical notes, he calls her.

There are other memories, quieter, more aching. Of Meena: shutting her eyes, she fell asleep/ and died/ did not even take a breath afterwards/ after a long eventful life / filled with torturous trials/ how simple and easy her death!

‘Caged’ is a gallery of elegies, love letters to the departed. Some of the most piercing are reserved for Amjad Khan and Sanjeev Kumar. Gulzar writes not merely of their absence, but of what lingers. In his verses, death is not an end but a bond beyond flesh.

A sketch of a friend—Amjad Khan—whom he is about to bury: “Main neem-andheri qabr mein / sula raha tha jab use / woh neem-v-nigaah se / dekhta raha mujhe... / hatheliyon se aankh ke chirag bhi bhuja diye / ke do jahaan ke silsile / zameen par hi chuka diye.”

Gulzar does not mourn—because even in the silence of the grave, he listens for his breath.

The metaphysics of death, of what remains, and what must be buried, flicker through these verses. Sanjeev Kumar, too, appears as a confidant, someone Gulzar could tell what he couldn’t tell anyone else. Later, the lens widens, and more artists come into the light: Birju Maharaj and Hariprasad Chaurasia. And then a portrait of Van Gogh, whom he first encountered through Irving Stone’s Lust for Life, and he becomes a mirror to his own artistic struggles. In moments of despair, that biography was his guiding light.

The final chapter, the most personal one. Gulzar turns inward to his family. Rakhee, Meghna, and his grandson Samay. Pali, his dog, whom he never once called ‘Dog’. And, finally this brief poem, like a breath caught in the chest: "गिरह ऐसी लगी है जैसे कि नाभि का रिश्ता हो / जो कट जाने पर भी उम्र भर कटता नहीं है."

How does one write about Caged? It is not a memoir.  It is not poetry. It is a book of farewells and of bonds that refuse to loosen. A butterfly’s trace on the fingertips—never caught, never forgotten.  

About the Author

Gulzar, one of India's leading poets, is a greatly respected scriptwriter and film director. He has been one of the most popular lyricists in mainstream Hindi cinema, gaining international fame when he won an Oscar and a Grammy for the song 'Jai ho'. Gulzar received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002, the Padma Bhushan in 2004, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2014 and the Jnanpith Award in 2024. He lived and works in Mumbai.

Translator
After 12 years as Editor of Femina which was declared a Superbrand, Sathya Saran chose to be a full-time author, part time teacher and a columnist. Her books include the acclaimed biographies, Ten Years with Guru Dutt Abrar Alvi’s Journey, Baat Niklegi toh Phir: The Life and Music of Jagjit Singh, Sun Mere Bandhu Re: The Musical World of SD Burman and Hariprasad Chaurasia: Breath of Gold. She also has a book of short stories The Dark Side. Caged is her first book as a translator. 

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Book Review: World Within Worlds by Ajay Navaria | Translated by Nita Kumar | Published by Niyogi Books

Title: Worlds Within Worlds 
Author: Ajay Navaria
Translated by: Nita Kumar 
Publisher: Niyogi Books 
ISBN: 9789391125806
Pages: 318 
Buy Link: Amazon 

“As soon as someone asks for their rights, of course, there will be bitterness. No one gives away their share willingly.”

Ajay Navaria’s Worlds Within Worlds takes readers into the lives of Dalits, an oppressed community in India. The book was originally written in Hindi as Udhar Ke Log and is translated into English by Nita Kumar.

The story is about Masterji, a Dalit professor, who struggles with his past and present. His first wife, Vandana, dies by suicide. His second wife, Sangita, leaves him. Masterji tries to win Sangita back. Along the way, he meets Ayesha, a sex worker, and they share a quaint bond. These relationships are at the centre of the story. Through them, Navaria explores caste, gender, and social issues.

“The next six months were the most humiliating and challenging days of my life. At first, there was just the pain of the loss of Vandana. Then it was intensified by the accusation that I had pushed her towards suicide. An elephant-like weight fell on me. A single page of Vandana's diary was responsible for a six-month term in jail. She had written that I had beaten her when drunk. 

On the basis of that, I was called an alcoholic and wife-beater. My character was stained, my illegitimate relations were bounced around. I lost my job. I could not even see Amresh sir. He himself had been unable to understand the event. I could not figure out how Vandana, who was so afraid of death, had taken poison and killed herself? She had not left a suicide note. People had told me that she was found at the front door of the house. The door was open. She must have waited for me, and thought that I would come back in time to save her. That did not happen.”

The book looks closely at the caste system in India. It shows how love, jealousy, and mistrust affect people across caste lines. It questions the idea of a single Dalit identity and reveals divisions within the community. Nita Kumar’s foreword adds helpful insights to the story.

Tradition and modern life clash in the novel. Navaria critiques how capitalism is erasing cultural diversity, especially through wedding rituals. Education is also a big theme. It offers hope but does not fully erase discrimination.

“I understood that there could be no re-establishing of trust between these two people. The best thing would be for them to voluntarily divorce. Otherwise, it was quite possible that one day there would be a murder or suicide. And the other person would waste his or her life in and out of court. The children, even if one parent was alive, would be like orphans, and have mental health problems. They would be afraid to get married. and if they did, would ruin one more family. If families were ruined, would the nation survive? Should divorce not be made simpler? When a man or a woman ceases to want to live with their man or woman, why does the other wish to continue tolerating insult and injury to stay on? I was like an insect caught in a spider's web with my net of questions, and they were strangling me.”

World Within Words pushes readers to think—about caste, identity, and loyalty. It is a small book but leaves a lasting impact. For those curious about Dalit lives and their modern realities, this book is a good place to start.

 

About the Author  

Born in 1972 in Delhi, AJAY NAVARIA has a BA and MA from University of Delhi, and MPhil and PhD from JNU. His stories have been widely translated. Unclaimed Terrain, a story collection translated by Prof. Laura R. Brueck, 2013, was critically acclaimed. He has published story collections Patkatha aur Anya Kahaniya and Yes Sir, in Hindi.

He has been invited as a speaker at various universities and literature festivals. His works have been included in the syllabus at Harvard University, Michigan University and University of Delhi. He is a Professor of Hindi at Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi.

 

About the Translator 

NITA KUMAR is the retired Brown Professor of South Asian History at Claremont McKenna College, California. She is the author and editor of several books. She has scripted the movie Shankar's Fairies. She publishes essays and blogs, and her plays have been performed in various places. She runs NIRMAN, which works for children, families, education, and the arts, and the school Vidyashram the Southpoint, in Varanasi.

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Ten Days of Strike by Sandipan Chattopadhyay | Translated by Arunava Sinha |

Title: Ten Days of Strike
Author: Sandipan Chattopadhyay
Translator: Arunava Sinha
Publisher: ‎ Harper Perennial India (2024)
Paperback‏: ‎ 344 pages
ISBN‏: ‎ 978-9362138224
Buy: Amazon 

“Vanish? What was that? To make something vanish was to hide it. Like making a corpse vanish. Or stolen goods. What was it that was to be made to vanish here?”

Sandipan Chattopadhyay (1933–2005), was one of the pioneers of modern Bengali literature, and among the foremost fiction writers of his time. He challenged norms and supported creative freedom, addressing class, gender, and the absurdity of life.

In the title story, Ten Days of the Strike, a middle-class family's struggle with a blocked commode serves as a powerful metaphor for social decay, intertwining the narrative with the Naxalite movement. Similarly, With Ruby in Diamond Harbour delves into the complexities of relationships, highlighting the protagonist’s discomfort in navigating love outside of marriage in a conventional society.

"Calcutta hotels ask you to disclose your identity. What is the relationship between you? If I were to say, she feels the pain when I’m hurt—the other day I stubbed my toe on a brick on the road, it wasn’t I but she who exclaimed, ‘Ooh’—so that’s our relationship, that won’t do. But no questions are asked if I were to take my wife, whom I haven’t remembered to kiss in the past four years, anywhere."

The Last Metro portrays a husband who knows about his wife's affair. He anticipates her announcement of a new relationship. His feelings of resignation and dread grow as he imagines receiving a wedding invitation instead of a face-to-face conversation. This story ends with an unsettling atmosphere. ‘It’s never a problem when things are obvious, trouble crops up when they aren’t obvious.’   

In Bijon’s Flesh and Blood, the protagonist’s morning ritual of checking himself in the mirror reveals his serious illness. The author's fresh metaphors, like “awareness enveloped his breast like the dazzling afternoon light following the rain,” enhance the emotional depth.

Chattopadhyay opens some stories with striking lines, such as in The Revolution and Rajmohan, where the protagonist considers suicide but hasn’t found a revolver. This artful initiation draws readers in immediately.

Each story evokes deep emotions, except Banabehari and I and Meerabai. I struggled to connect with these characters. And, the most powerful story, Slave Man, Slave Woman, captures a haunting moment with a woman wrapped in a white shawl. The prose is rich and evocative, exploring profound observations about human connection.

Chattopadhyay’s stories stand out for their originality and diverse narratives. Arunava Sinha’s translation from Bengali deserves praise, for bridging languages and cultures.

An original voice of Indian literature. A worth-read.

 

About the Author:

Sandipan Chattopadhyay was one of the pioneers of the Hungryalist movement. His first collection of short stories, Kritadas Kritadasi (1961), is credited with changing the landscape of Bengali fiction and was immensely influential in other Indian languages as well. He was awarded the 1995 Bankim Puraskar and the 2002 Sahitya Academy Award for his work.

 

About the Translator: 

Arunava Sinha translates classic, modern and contemporary Bengali fiction, non-fiction and poetry from India and Bangladesh into English. More than eighty of his translations have been published so far across various countries, including India, UK, USA and Australia. He teaches translation and creative writing at Ashoka University in India, and is co-director, Ashoka Centre for Translation.

 

 

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Janice Pariat's Everything The Light Touches | On the longlist of JCB Prize for Literature (2023)

Title: Everything That Light Touches
Author: Janice Pariat
Publisher: HarperCollins India (2023)
Genre: Literature, Nature
ISBN: 978-9356291393
Hardcover: 512 Pages
Buy the book: Amazon 

In Janice Pariat's book, "Everything the Light Touches," she seamlessly blends research with imagination across centuries. The narrative delves into the lives of four individuals: Shai, Evelyn, Johann (Goethe), and Carl, whose journeys are interconnected like the roots of an ancient Banyan tree.

In her previous work, "Nine Chambered Heart," Pariat employed a unique narrative technique, recounting the girl's story through various characters, including teachers, lovers, and flatmates. In "Everything the Light Touches," she continues with this approach, using multiple perspectives, to enrich the narrative.

The central character of the story is Shai, a woman in her thirties. The book begins with Shai's journey as she prepares to fly from Delhi airport to her hometown, Meghalaya—a place seemingly forgotten by its own country. ‘We land in a place that falls off the map. So far east in this vast country that it feels not of this country anymore.’ 

While each of us must eventually return to our origins, Shai is concerned about her family and community.

Pariat in an interview: We live in a world of very unequal stories, where someone like Karl Linnaeus will be known but somebody from a small little corner of India's northeast, who might have the same amazingly profound ideas about our relationship to the natural world, will quite easily be dismissed. It was very important for me to place these stories also on the same plane, so that Goethe and Linnaeus exist amidst all of these other characters who are equally valid, equally important.

Pariat excels at crafting multi-dimensional characters, and it's the small details that breathe life into her work. For instance, when Shai reunites with her mother, Pariat vividly describes the encounter, ‘it’s been less than a year since I’ve seen her—in which secret hours did she age? When I hug her, though, she smells familiar, of wool and naphthalene and hand cream…’

The narrative then shifts to Evelyn, deeply passionate about botany, and less interested in conventional life. Frustrated by the lack of academic opportunities in England, she embarks on a journey to India, to explore the Himalayan flora and fauna.

One of the most innovative chapters belongs to Carl. Pariat fearlessly experiments with storytelling in this section, incorporating approximately 40 micro-poems that are both lyrical and comforting. These poems range from one-liners to free verses, with "How to Hunt a Bear" consisting of just three words: "Do not miss."

SIGNS

The peasants who reside near the cliffs or rising ground judge by the crows the approach
of bad weather; for these birds seek the marshy country before it comes on.
They say they have been reading such signs for years.   

Here, I am borrowing the words of Nilanjana Roy: Everything the Light Touches is a magnificent reminder that the natural world does not lie outside of ourselves, and that when we break trust with the earth, we break our own spirits into scattered fragments. Janice Pariat finds a new language of connection, wonder, and loss, for the songs of the earth from Lapland and Goethe's Europe to the Lower Himalayas and remote villages in India's Northeast, her stories dancing between centuries in this generous and intricate work.

As Henry Miller said, "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." 

Janice Pariat's "Everything the Light Touches" is not just a book but a grand narrative that delves into the essence of existence, human bonds spanning ages, botanical wonders, poetic beauty, and profound discoveries. It has earned a place on the longlist of the JCB Prize for Literature in 2023.

  

About the Author

Janice Pariat is the author of Boats on Land: A Collection of Short Stories, Seahorse: A Novel, and the international bestseller The Nine-Chambered Heart. She was the recipient of the Young Writer Award from the Sahitya Akademi and the Crossword Book Award for Fiction in 2013. Janice's work has been translated into ten languages. She teaches at Ashoka University, and lives between New Delhi and Shillong with a cat of many names.

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सत्यजीत राय - सोने का किला । फेलूदा सीरीज़ - जासूसी उपन्यास

किताब: सोने का किला
लेखक: सत्यजीत राय
प्रकाशक: राजकमल बुक्स 
पेपरबैक: 120 पृष्ठ  

सत्यजीत राय की फेलूदा सीरीज़ से शायद ही कोई अनभिज्ञ हो। किशोर पाठकों के लिए लिखी गई यह किताब ‘सोने का किला’ एक जासूसी उपन्यास है। राजस्थान की नींव पर खड़ी यह रहस्यमयी कहानी, बीकानेर, किशनगढ़, जोधपुर, और जैसलमैर जैसी कई जगहों की संस्कृति, और अनूठे वातावरण में गुँथी है।

यह मुकुल कथा है, एक ऐसे बच्चे की कहानी जिसे अपने पिछले जन्म की बातें याद हैं। उसे सपनों में सोने का किला दिखता है, साथ ही युद्ध का मैदान और उसके पार अपना घर।

मुकुल की व्यथा को दूर करने के लिए उसे राजस्थान ले जाया जाता है। कहानी में मोड़ तब आता है जब उसके यात्रा पर निकलते ही पड़ौस में रहने वाले बच्चे को मुकुल समझकर अग़वा कर लिया जाता है। उसके पिता की विनती पर मुकुले के पीछे-पीछे एक जासूस को राजस्थान यात्रा पर भेजा जाता है, और कहानी में पदार्पण होता है, जनाब फेलूदा का, पूरा नाम प्रदोष मित्तिर। सोने का किला और उसमें ग़ढ़ा खजाना, खजाने को पाने की लालसा लिए कुछ बदमाश – पूरी कथा इन्हीं के इर्द-गिर्द घूमती है। कई मकड़जाल और उनसे पार निकलते फेलूदा। यह उपन्यास हर उम्र के पाठकों के लिए है - सहज और पठनीय। किताब में बने स्कैच सत्यजीत राय ने ख़ुद उकेरे हैं।    

किताब का अंश  

“पूर्व जन्म की कथा कहने वालों का मुझे पता है। कुछेक लोग होते हैं जिन्हें हठात पूर्व जन्म की बात याद आ जाती है। उन्हें बांग्ला में 'जातिस्मर' कहते हैं। लेकिन वास्तव में पूर्व जन्म जैसा कुछ होता है ऐसा फेलूदा भी नहीं जानते हैं। फेलूदा ने चार मीनार का पैकेट खोलकर उन साहब की तरफ बढ़ाया। उन्होंने मुस्कराकर सिर हिलाया और कहा कि वे सिगरेट नहीं पीते हैं। इसके बाद वे बोले, आपको शायद याद होगा कि मेरे लड़के की उम्र आठ साल है-एक स्थान का वर्णन करता हुआ कहता है कि यह भी वहाँ गया था। लेकिन उस स्थान पर मेरा बेटा तो क्या मेरे बाप-दादे भी नहीं गए थे। कैसे गरीब-गुजरान करते हैं हम लोग यह तो आप जानते ही हैं। दुकान भी आपने देखी ही है, और इधर तो किताबों का व्यापार दिन-ब-दिन।

आपका लड़का तो एक किले की बात करता है ना?' फेलूदा ने बीच में ही उन्हें रोककर पूछा। "जी हाँ. कहता है कि सोने का किला। उस पर तोपें रखी हैं, युद्ध हो रहा है. आदमी मर रहे हैं। यह सब वह देख रहा है। वह खुद पगड़ी बाँधे ऊँट पर बैठा बालू के टीलों पर घूमता था। बालू की बात बहुत करता है। और हाँ, मोर की भी बात बताता है तथा हाथी घोड़ों की बात भी उसके हाथ पर कोहनी के पास एक दाग है जन्म से ही हम तो इसे जन्मदाग की समझते थे लेकिन वह कहता है कि एक बार मोर ने वहाँ चोंच की चोट मारी थी यह उसी का दाग है।" 

मानव कौल - रूह । कश्मीर यात्रा पर आधारित

 

किताब: रूह 
लेखक: मानव कौल
प्रकाशक: हिंदी युग्म
विधा: यात्रा-संस्मरण 
पेपरबैक: 175 पृष्ठ

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मानव कौल की यह किताब 'रूह', कश्मीर पर लिखा गया यात्रा-संस्मरण है। यात्रा बाहरी से कहीं अधिक भीतरी। मन में चलती उठा-पठक और नॉस्टालजिया। समकालीन विषयों से इतर, यहाँ मानव की नज़र से कश्मीर दिखता है। कश्मीर जो उनका घर था, वह जिस मनोभाव से घर की दीवारों-दरवाज़ों को अपने लिखे में जीवित करते हैं, सराहनीय है।

दृश्य, जब वह बचपन में मौजूद लोगों को अपने सामने पाते हैं, सुंदर है। मानव खुद कहते हैं कि ये कश्मीर के ज़्वलंतशील मुद्दों को केंद्र में रखकर लिखी गई किताब नहीं है। यह डॉक्यूमेंटेशन है, एक ऐसे बच्चे का जिसका जीवन उस एक क्रूर हादसे ने बदल कर रख दिया।

किताब में एक अन्य पात्र, रूहानी जो पूरी यात्रा में उनके साथ है, ‘बहुत दूर कितनी दूर होता है’ में भी आप इसी तरह के पात्र से रू-ब-रू हुए होंगे। क्या ये पात्र काल्पनिक हैं? नाम भले अलग हों, लेकिन वे प्रतिरूप होने का आभास देते हैं, यह दोहराव पाठक को ज़रा विलगाता है।

अगर आप मानव कौल को पहली दफ़ा पढ़ रहे हैं तो यह किताब जादू-सी लगेगी।

ईमानदार राय रखूँ तो मानव ने जितना खुद को ‘बहुत दूर कितना दूर होता है’ में रचा है, ‘रूह’ उस उँचाई को छूने से ज़रा चूक गई। सनद रहे, इनकी किताबों के ज़रिए अनगिन हिंदी पाठक तैयार हो रहे हैं। और यह एक उपलब्धि है। किताब का एक अंश साझा कर रही हूँ -

सन् 1988 के बाद से जो भी घटा था इस वादी में, और वादी से निकल गए सारे परिवारों ने जो सहा था, उन सब लोगों की कहानियों को अगर हम सुनना शुरू करेंगे तो हमें अपनी इंसानियत पर शर्म आने लगेगी। जिस तरह बाहर रह रहे कश्मीरी पंडितों को छूते ही वे फूट पड़ते हैं, ठीक वैसे ही यहाँ रह रहे कश्मीरी मुस्लिम भी पुरानी घटनाओं पर फट पड़ते हैं। लेकिन इन सबमें पंडितों का कश्मीरी मुस्लिम और कश्मीरी मुस्लिम का पंडितों के प्रति स्नेह भाव ख़त्म नहीं हुआ है। यहाँ घूमते हुए जब भी किसी को पता चलता है कि मैं पंडित हूँ, ठीक उसी वक़्त से हमारी बातचीत में एक अपनापन आ चुका होता है। 'इसे सब पता है' वाला एक भाव दोनों के संवादों में रहता है। अब जो पंडितों की नई पीढ़ी है, उसे घटनाओं की सुनी हुई जानकारी है, जिन्होंने उन घटनाओं को जिया था वे या तो बहुत बूढ़े हो चुके हैं या वे अब नहीं रहे। कश्मीरी मुस्लिम बच्चे जो उस वक़्त बड़े हो रहे थे, या जो पंडितों के बच्चे यहाँ से नहीं गए थे, उनके बचपन के जिए हुए की छाप उनके चेहरे... पर साफ़ दिखती है। 'तुम लोग तो चले गए थे, मैं इस वाक्य के पीछे का मर्म समझ सकता हूँ।

Dinesh Pathak's Mrs. Simon is Waiting and Other Stories | Translated by Sneha Pathak

Title: Mrs. Simon is Waiting and Other Stories
Author: Dinesh Pathak
Translator: Sneha Pathak
Publisher: Antika Prakashan
Genre: Fiction, Short Stories
ISBN: 978-8196206376
Paperback: 160 Pages
Buy the Book: AMAZON

In "Mrs. Simon is Waiting and Other Stories" by Dinesh Pathak, the complexities of human nature take center stage and paint a vivid picture of small-town India. With each narrative, the author brings to life the sights and sounds, weaving a mosaic of emotions.

Within these tales, characters, regardless of age or social status, grapple with universal themes such as love, loss, dreams, and resilience. Amidst the chaos of life, these stories offer solace through their honest depiction of everyday experiences. Whether it's a father's quest for a suitable suitor for his daughter or an elderly man's poignant recollections of enduring love, these narratives provoke introspection.

The first story, "Homecoming," revolves around a young man facing parental disapproval due to his unemployment. He resists the idea of mundane clerical work, but fate has other plans, leading to an unexpected twist.

Simplicity is the essence of this collection. Each story serves as a window, offering social commentary on various themes. "Siyabar Babu and the Suitable Boy" delves into the societal ill of dowry demands, and how sacred bonds become transactions. Pathak introduces a diverse array of characters, each portrayed with their flaws and virtues. These characters come alive on the page, drawing readers into their journeys.

In "Birthday Party," a mother yearns to celebrate her son's birthday to prove their worth to neighbours, but in-laws have differing ideas, highlighting generational conflicts. Here, author presents a fresh perspective, more vividly realized than the last. His characters are not mere sketches but fully developed individuals, flawed yet relatable, all seeking meaning in their lives. 

"Mrs. Simon is Waiting" unfolds in Simon's Villa, where a homeopathic doctor offers free treatments. When tragedy strikes, the clinic's future hangs in the balance, posing questions about who will carry forward the doctor's legacy.

The stories shine through Sneha Pathak's beautiful translation, preserving the essence while making them accessible to a wider audience. Pathak's prose is both simple and profound, ensuring that readers from all backgrounds can connect with the themes presented.

"Mrs. Simon is Waiting and Other Stories" is a perfect weekend read, celebrating the art of storytelling.

About the Author

Dinesh Pathak was born in Uttarakhand in May 1950. He has been writing for close to fifty years, and his stories have appeared in all leading Hindi publications. He has published ten short-story collections and three novels. He has also edited an anthology. His stories have been translated into various Indian languages. He retired from the post of Associate Professor and now dedicates his full time to writing. 

Translator:

Sneha Pathak has a PhD in English Literature and has taught at college and university level. She currently works as a freelance writer/translator. Her writings have appeared various publications such as Muse India, Purple Pencil Project, The Wise Owl Magazine, The Curious Reader etc.

CONNECT:  INSTAGRAM

 

P.S. Received a review copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey Through Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh

Title: Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey Through Opium’s Hidden Histories
Author: Amitav Ghosh
Publisher: HarperCollins India, 2023
Genre: Non-Fiction, History, Culture
ISBN: 978-9356992757
Hardback: 408 Pages
Buy the Book: AMAZON

‘The stamp of the past sometimes sinks so deep into the fabric of everyday life that its traces are difficult, if not impossible, to erase.’  

Amitav Ghosh’s Smoke and Ashes is a blend of travel diary, life memories, and history. Ghosh explores opium's impact on Britain, India, China, and the world. This book sheds light on our intertwined history with the tea and opium trade during the 18th and 19th centuries. The British Empire pushed the opium trade, vital for survival.The impact in India was tragic. 

Seven years ago, reading "Sea of Poppies," I missed its extensive research. "Smoke and Ashes" now discloses that around twenty years ago, when Ghosh started working on the Ibis Trilogy, he was surprised to discover that the lives of the sailors were influenced by a valuable thing they carried - opium. Along with, its surprising connection to his family's history. 

The blurb says Moving deftly between horticultural histories, the mythologies of capitalism, and the social and cultural repercussions of colonialism, Smoke and Ashes reveals the pivotal role one small plant has played in the making of the world as we know it - a world that is now teetering on the edge of catastrophe.  

Ghosh's memoir links his ancestry to opium's influence. His father's tales from Bihar, show opium's dual force: – both destructive and life-giving. Ghosh writes, that in the East, the British ran a heavy-handed Opium Department, all under its thumb, dictating planting, auctions, and farmers' pay.

Smoke and Ashes, highlights the collective memory and recognizes our role in shaping of cultural history. The account travels globally – from Mumbai's Parsis, then to China's artisans, weavers, and potters in bustling Guangzhou.  

‘Had eastern travellers entered the home of a poppy farmer, they would have noticed, to their further surprise, that in this harvested poppy region, the latex was stored not in pots of water, as was the practice in the east, but in containers filled with linseed oil. Had curiosity compelled them to visit a production facility, they would have been astonished to find themselves not in a huge fortress of a factory, like those of Patna or Ghazipur, but in a small shed, filled with flat cakes laid out to dry in the shade.’

In Ghosh's non-fiction style, research combines with storytelling. While tracing opium’s history, the author exposes the truth behind capitalism. Each chapter offers captivating narratives. To sum up, Ghosh's book delves into the depths of opium history, its detailed research and compelling prose lingering. A recommended read!

About the Author 

Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta in 1956. He studied in Dehra Dun, New Delhi, Alexandria and Oxford and his first job was at the Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi. He earned a doctorate at Oxford before he wrote his first novel, which was published in 1986.

The Circle of Reason won the Prix Medicis Etranger, one of France's top literary awards, and The Shadow Lines won the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Ananda Puraskar. The Calcutta Chromosome won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for 1997 and The Glass Palace won the Grand Prize for Fiction at the Frankfurt International e-Book Awards in 2001. The Hungry Tide won the Hutch Crossword Book Prize in 2006. In 2007 Amitav Ghosh was awarded the Grinzane Cavour Prize in Turin, Italy. Amitav Ghosh has written for many publications, including the Hindu, The New Yorker and Granta, and he has served on the juries of several international film festivals, including Locarno and Venice. He has taught at many universities in India and the USA, including Delhi University, Columbia, the City University of New York and Harvard. He no longer teaches and is currently writing the next volume of the Ibis Trilogy.

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