Author: Sara Rai
Translator(s): Sara Rai
Publisher: Katha
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 260
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8187649410
Description
A unique collection of twenty one short stories by writers who have spent years engaging in their art. The stories in this anthology would hold an element of surprise for the Western reader who might come to them expecting the narrative technique and the fabric of life depicted in the stories to be very different from the West.
The short story has been part of the heritage of most cultures in the form of fables and tales and in this sense is one of the oldest genres in the world. It has also been part of the Indian heritage, manifest in the didactic tales of the Panchtantra, the urbane romances of the Kathasarita Sagar and the parables of the Upanishads. The oral tradition of storytelling goes back hundreds of years. However, the modern short story in Hindi largely developed in the twentieth century, when a need was felt not only to link with the past but also to find and invent new forms of reaction to the British colonial presence, as also new ways to express the modern, secular Indian identity it brought into being.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
The Fire by Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh
Taking Leave by Zahra Rai
The Steamer by Ram Kumar
The City of Death by Amarkant
Shammonjaan's Freedom by Krishna Sobti
Married Women by Mohan Rakesh
Apprehension by Kunwar Narain
The Guest by Nirmal Verma
The Funeral Procession by Shrikant Verma
The Color Blue by Vijay Chauhan
The Acquaintance by Ramnarayan
Shukla
The Homecoming by Usha Priyamvada
The Crowd by Vinod Kumar Shukla
Ba by Jyotsna Milan
The Festival by Mehrunnisa Parvez
Traffic Jam by Sanjeev
Paper Bullets by Abdul Bismillah
The Golden Waist Chain by Uday Prakash
Our Small World by Sara Rai
March, Ma and Sakura by Geentajali Shree
The Purgative by Alka Saraogi
Notes on Contributors