Author: Khushwant Singh
Neelam Kumar/
Publisher: Jaico
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 434
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8172249780
Description
This anthology is a virtual canvas of human emotions. Its pages throb with everything primal to human nature: fear, angst, joy, love, lust and longing. Within the pages of this anthology will be discovered that intangible quality which has surpassed the boundaries of region, time, space and history.
The inspiration behind this anthology has been the concern that some of the best short stories of India have remained imprisoned within their geographic and linguistic boundaries, flowering and withering away unnoticed. In the absence of translation they have been deprived from reaching a wider audience. What a waste of beautiful thoughts and ideas! How can one talk of understanding India or being Indian without understanding the motivations that drive our countrymen and women spread over distant regions of the country? Can one truly understand the whole without understanding the part?
What lifts a story from the level of ordinary to extraordinary, to finally become engraved in the mind as a 'Favorite'? Sometimes it is a childhood association or a fond memory of youth. Many times one just does not know why, but one simply likes a particular story.
The Urdu and Punjabi sections did not prove to be difficult. Mr. Khushwant Singh is an authority in these fields. He has included his own translations in this anthology. Making selection from other regional languages proved to be an intimidating task. The Editors went by the opinions of experts and literature lovers of that particular language.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Kamala Suraiya
The Story Behind the Stories by Neelam Kumar
HINDI
The Resignation - Premchand
Enlightenment - Yashpal
Under Cover of Darkness - Nirmal Verma
Like a Pigeon - Rajendra Awasthi
Breaking Point - Usha Mahajan
BENGALI
Cabulliwallah - Rabindranath Tagore
Draupadi - Mahasweta Devi
URDU
Exchange of Lunatics - Saadat Hasan Manto
Housewife - Ismat Chugtai
PUNJABI
Happy New Year - Ajeet Caur
Death of Shaikh Burhanuddin - Khwaja Ahmed Abbas
ORIYA
The Bed of Arrows - Gopinath Mohanty
Death of an Indian - Kishori Charan Das
GUJRATI
Wings of Silent Wish - Dinkar Joshi
Red Glow of the New Moon - Kundanika Kapadia
RAJASTHANI
Cannibal - Vijai Dan Detha
SINDHI
The Statement - Gobind Panjabi
The Claim - Narain Bharati
MARATHI
The Wan Moon - Gangadhar Gadgil
The Debt - Gauri Deshpande
ASSAMESE
The Vulture - Manoj Kumar Goswami
KASHMIRI
The Bride's Pyjamas - Akhtar Mohi-ud-din
The Enemy - A G Athar
MALAYALAM
The Flight - Kamala Das
The Flood - Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai
KANNADA
Kwate (The Fort) - Chaduranga
Amasa - Devanoor Mahadev
TELUGU
On the Boat - P Padmaraju
Cloud Stealing - Malati Chandur
TAMIL
The Journey - Indira Parthasarathy
Brahma-Vriksha - Prapanchan
DOGRI
The Farm - Chaman Arora
The Dislodged Brick - Om Goswami
KONKANI
Hippie Girl - Chandrakant Keni
A Cup of Hot Coffee - Edwin J F D'Souza
ENGLISH
The Portrait of a Lady - Khushwant Singh
Birth - Mulk Raj Anand
Cows and Love - Atul Chandra
Road to Tikratoli - Shoy Lall
A New Tomorrow - Neelam Kumar