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"A timeless selection of writings from India's best-loved author

I know the world's a crowded place,
And elephants do take up space,
But if it makes a difference, Lord,
I'd gladly share my room and board.
A baby elephant would do...
But, if he brings his mother too,
There's Dad's garage. He wouldn't mind.
To elephants, he's more than kind.
But I wonder what my Mum would say
If their aunts and uncles came to stay!

Ruskin Bond has regaled generations of readers for decades. This delightful collection of poetry, prose and non-fiction brings together some of his best work in a single volume. Sumptuously illustrated, Uncles, Aunts and Elephants is a book to treasure for all times."

What secrets lurk in a family’s past—and how important are they in the here and now?Sudha Murty’s new book comprises two novellas that explore two quests by two different men—both for mothers they never knew they had.Venkatesh, a bank manager, stumbles upon his lookalike one fine day. When he probes further, he discovers his father’s hidden past, which includes an abandoned wife and child. Ventakesh is determined to make amends to his impoverished stepmother—but how can he repay his father’s debt?Mukesh, a young man, is shocked to realize after his father’s death that he was actually adopted. He sets out to find his biological mother, but the deeper he delves, the more confused he is about where his loyalties should lie: with the mother who gave birth to him, or with the mother who brought him up. The Mother I Never Knew is a poignant, dramatic book that reaches deep into the human heart to reveal what we really feel about those closest to us.

Many readers have grown up with Ruskin Bond’s stories. Now in an utterly delightful anthology, he introduces you to the stories he grew up with. Part memoir, part anthology, Love among the Bookshelves is a glimpse into Ruskin’s life through the books he has loved and an introduction to some forgotten classics.

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Penguin India
• By : Yashpal (Author), Anand (Translator)
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 5 July 2010
• Pages : 1119
• Weight : 1.70 kg.
• Size : 14.1 x 4.4 x 21.5 cm
• ISBN-10 : 014310313X
• ISBN-13 : 978-0143103134

DESCRIPTION:

Jhootha Sach is arguably the most outstanding piece of Hindi literature written about the Partiton. Reviving life in Lahore as it was before 1947, the book opens on a nostalgic note, with vivid descriptions of the people that lived in the city’s streets and lanes like Bhola Pandhe Ki Gali: Tara, who wanted an education above marriage; Puri, whose ideology and principles often came in the way of his impoverished circumstances; Asad, who was ready to sacrifice his love for the sake of communal harmony. Their lives—and those of other memorable characters—are forever altered as the carnage that ensues on the eve of Independence shatters the beauty and peace of the land, killing millions of Hindus and Muslims, and forcing others to leave their homes forever. Published in English translation for the first time, Yashpal’s controversial novel is a politically charged, powerful tale of human suffering. About the Author Yashpal (1903-1976) began to write while serving a life sentence for his participation, as a comrade of Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad, in the armed struggle for India's independence. What he wrote formed his first collection of short stories, Pinjare ki Udan, published in 1938. After his release Yashpal dazzled Hindi readers with the political journal, Viplava, which he founded and published with the help of Prakashvati, a revolutionary, whom he later married in prison. He wrote more than fifty books including collections of short stories, novels, essays, a play and memoirs of his revolutionary days.

Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, is easily the most recognizable and loveable of Hindu deities. But pinpointing his various attributes is not quite so simple. He is at once the portly, merry, childlike god and the sage, complex philosopher. He is the presiding deity of material wealth and the lord of spirituality. He removes all impediments for his devotees but creates all manner of difficulties for the transgressors, man or god. And associated with every aspect of Ganesha-be it his extraordinary birth, his elephant head, his broken tusk, his vehicle (the mouse), his appetite, his anger-are scores of myths, each more colourful than the other. In this thoroughly researched and delightfully narrated book, Royina Grewal gives us the many stories of Ganesha, exploring their significance and how they reflect the times and the cultures during which they originated.

A restlessness born of guilt and despair leads Ravi to embark on a journey that ends in the remote village of Khasak in the picturesque Palghat countryside in Kerala. A land from the past, potent with dreams and legends, enfolds the traveller in a powerful and unsettling embrace. Ravi is bewitched and entranced as everything around him-the villagers; their children whom he teaches in a makeshift school; the elders who see him as a threat; the toddy-tappers; the shamans-takes on the quality of myth. And then reality, painful and threatening, begins to intrude on the sojourner's resting place and Ravi begins to understand that there is no escape from the relentless dictates of karma... Often poetic and dark, always complex and rich, The Legends of Khasak, O.V. Vijayan's much-acclaimed first novel, translated into English by the author, is an extraordinary achievement.

Tagore wrote Shey to satisfy his nine year old granddaughter's demands for stories. Even as Tagre began to create his fantasy, he planned a story that had no end, and to keep the tales spinning he employed the help of 'Shey', a 'man constituted entirely of words' and rather talented at concoting tall tales. So we enter the world of Shey's extraordinary adventures, encountering a bizarre cast of characters, grotesque creatures and caricatures of contemporary figures and events as well as mythological heroes and deities - all brought to life through a sparkling play of words and illustrations in Tagore's unique style.

A timeless tale of complex emotional relationships from an acknowledged master Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Rituparno Ghosh, Chokher Bali is Nobel Prize-winning author Rabindranath Tagore’s classic exposition of an extramarital affair that takes place within the confines of a joint family. It is the story of the rich, flamboyant Mahendra and his simple, demure, beautiful wife Asha—a young couple who are befriended by the pragmatic Bihari. Their cosy domestic scenario undergoes great upheaval with the introduction of the vivacious Binodini, a young, attractive widow who comes to live with them. Asha and Binodini become bosom pals. Binodini is initially drawn to Bihari but then begins to respond to the advances of Mahendra, who has become obsessively attracted to her. After several twists and turns, Binodini elopes with Mahendra, leaving the entire family in turmoil. Bihari pursues them to Allahabad and succeeds in bringing them back to Kolkata, but the question remains: can a marriage that has once been ruptured by breach of trust be mended again into a meaningful relationship?On the one hand, A Grain of Sand: Chokher Bali is a sensational account of two illicit relationships: Mahendra’s infatuation with Binodini which blinds him to everything else, and Binodini’s secret passion for Bihari of which she is never able to speak. On the other hand, it is a complex tapestry woven by the emotional interplay between five finely etched characters: the impulsive Mahendra, his adoring mother Rajlakshmi, the frail and sensitive Asha, the strong, silent Bihari, and the self-willed and irresistibly attractive Binodini.A compelling portrayal of the complexity of relationships and of human character, this landmark novel is just as powerful and thought-provoking today as it was a hundred years ago, when it was written.

Reminiscing of a time long lost, Fourteen Years with Boss gives a delightful insight into the workings of the Gemini Studios of Madras—one of the most influential film-producing organizations in India—and its founder, the brilliant and multifaceted S. S. Vasan. Filled with vivid sketches of actors, extras, directors and the ‘boss’, Ashokamitran recreates life at the studio so that it materializes in the reader’s mind with the perfect balance of humour and nostalgia.

A boy from Allahabad follows his cousin to the capital. He hovers at the edge of his cousin’s theater set, as they try and bring into their lives the idealism they enact on stage. Verma’s distinctive lyrical voice captures with melancholic perfection the characters afloat in the turbulent world of Delhi in the 1960s and ’70s.

The greatest mangal kavya in worship of the great goddess The Chandimangal of Kavikankan Mukundaram Chakravarti is an exemplary work of epic scale that recounts the story of the Goddess Chandi’s constant battle to establish her cult among humans. Through the three books of the kavya—The Book of the Gods, The Book of the Hunter and The Book of the Merchant—we are introduced to Chandi in all her manifestations, from the benevolent to the wrathful, from Abhaya to Chamunda. Mukundaram’s captivating tales and vivid imagery bring together the enchanting world of the gods with the more challenging world of the mortals while critiquing sixteenth-century Bengali society. In his exquisite rendering of the Chandimangal, Edward Yazijian manages to capture not only the performative and humorous but also the reverent aspects of the text.

"This intricately woven narrative is one of the landmark novels of Indian modernism. This ambitious novel, teeming with characters, focuses on the family of Srinivasa Aiyar or SRS, who moves from his ancestral house in Alapuzhai in Kerala, to the more modern Kottayam, before returning to his wife Lakshmi’s home in Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu. Set in the late 1930s and reflecting the political and social turmoil of the pre-war years, it chronicles the psychological conflict between SRS and his nine-year-old son, Balu; the moral struggle of a young widow, Anandam, as she considers remarriage; and the political journey of Sridaran, who chooses to break off his studies in England in order to join nationalist activities at home."

A professional meeting in wintry Prague explodes into a thrilling and passionate encounter between the Austrian tourist Raina and an Indian student. With keenly observed detail, Verma expertly conveys the feverishness of the relationship fated to be short-lived.

His ideas and his contribution to Indian literature were . . . revolutionary’ —The Hindu Divya leads a blissful life within the secure walls of the palace even as the world outside rages with caste politics and religious strife, until one night of pleasure changes her entire world. She gets pregnant only to be spurned by her lover. To preserve her high born family’s name she leaves her sheltered existence and trudges through life on her own, first as a slave and then as a court dancer. Adversity finally opens her eyes to the truth—a woman of a high family is not free. Only a prostitute is free. Divya decides that, by enslaving her body, she will preserve the freedom of her mind. Set in the first century BC against a background of the conflict for supremacy between Hindu and Buddhist ideologies, Divya is a poignant tale that combines vivid imagination with rich historical details. ‘Reminiscent of George Orwell . . . Here too is the biting satire of society as seen through the savage eye of an uncompromising non-conformist’—Dawn

The stories in Dolls’ Wedding, by the finest short-story writer in modern Telugu, are nuanced, hard-hitting and marked by the total absence of sentimentality. A tightly constructed plot relies on a minimalist portrayal of characters—among them beggars, peasants, widows, children and the upwardly mobile middle class—whose pragmatism drives them to break convention and fight for their survival. The aged auditor’s young wife in ‘Got to Go to Eluru’ seduces an adolescent boy in order to produce a son who will protect her status when she is widowed; in ‘Firewood’, a peasant girl overcomes fear and speaks out when she is falsely accused of theft. A realist devoid of ideologies, Chaso was deeply interested in the actual life and the inner world of people around him. These luminous translations bring Chaso to a new audience.

A young man from Jalandhar longs to become a writer but fails at every turn. Upendranath Ashk's 1947 novel explores in great detail the trials and tribulations of Chetan. From the back galis of Lahore and Jalandhar to Shimla's Scandal Point, Falling Walls offers a rich and intimate portrait of lower-middle-class life in the 1930s and the hurdles an aspiring writer must overcome to fulfill his ambitions.

Rabindranath Tagore reinvented the Bengali novel with Farewell Song; blurring the lines between prose and poetry and creating an effervescent blend of romance and satire. Through Amit and Labanya and a brilliantly etched social milieu; the novel addresses contemporary debates about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ writing; the nature of love and conjugality; and the influence of Western culture on Bengali society. Set against the idyllic backdrop of Shillong and the mannered world of elite Calcutta society; this sparkling novel expresses the complex vision and the mastery of style that characterized Tagore’s later works.

Nobel Prize-winning author Rabindranath Tagore’s most ambitious work Gora unfolds against the vast, dynamic backdrop of Bengal under British rule, a divided society struggling to envisage an emerging nation. It is an epic saga of India’s nationalist awakening, viewed through the eyes of one young man, an orthodox Hindu who defines himself against the British colonialist culture and finds himself approaching his nationalist identity through the prism of organized religion. First published in 1907, Gora questions the dogmas and presuppositions inherent in nationalist thought like few books have dared to do. This new, lucid and vibrant translation brings the complete and unabridged text of the classic to a new generation of readers, underlining its contemporary relevance.

Spine-tingling tales from the other side of midnight. Indigo is the mood in this new collection of stories about the supernatural, the peculiar and the inexplicable from Satyajit Ray, one of the best-loved writers of our times. There are tales here of dark horror, fantasy and adventure along with heart-warmingly funny stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. In 'Big Bill' Tulsi Babu picks up a newly-hatched chick from a forest and brings it home only to find it growing bigger and fiercer by the day; in 'Khagam' a man kills a sadhu's deadly pet snake and invites a curse which brings about horrifying changes in his body; and in the title story, a young executive resting in an old abandoned bungalow for a night, finds himself caught up in a chilling sequence of events which occurred more than a century ago. Also included here is 'The Magical Mystery', a brand new Feluda story discovered amongst Ray's papers after his death, and several tales featuring Uncle Tarini, the master storyteller who appears in translation for the first time. From Mr. Shasmal, who is visited one night by all the creatures he has ever killed, to Ashamanja Babu, who does not know what to do when his pet dog suddenly begins to laugh, the unforgettable characters in these stories surprise, shock and entertain us in equal measure. Indigo is a veritable treasure trove especially for those who like a taste of the unusual in a short story and an unexpected twist at the end. Translated from the Bengali by the author and Gopa Majumdar.

Middle India, in this collection of seventeen short stories, Bhisham Sahni examines middle India the lower middle class not rich or famous or educated in convent schools, not cosmopolitan but urban or semi-urban. In these tightly told tales, he explores with precision of thought and expression the humanity of individuals and their places in society.The collection includes some of Sahni’s best known stories: ‘Dinner for the Boss’, a tragi-comic tale of a man trying to please his employer and a mother’s attempt to please her son; ‘Paali’, the drama of a young boy shared between a Muslim and a Hindu family during Partition; and ‘Sparrow’, a story of love and loss in a marriage. Among the other stories in this anthology are popular favourites like ‘Veero’, ‘The Witch’, ‘Before Dying’, ‘Radha-Anuradha’ and ‘Salma Aapa’.

The poems of Rabindranath Tagore are among the most haunting and tender in Indian and world literature, expressing a profound and passionate human yearning. His ceaselessly inventive works deal with such subjects as the interplay between God and mortals, the eternal and the transient, and the paradox of an endlessly changing universe that is in tune with unchanging harmonies. Poems such as "Earth" and "In the Eyes of a Peacock" present a picture of natural processes unaffected by human concerns, while others, as in "Recovery14," convey the poet's bewilderment about his place in the world. And exuberant works such as "New Rain" and "Grandfather's Holiday" describe Tagore's sheer joy at the glories of nature or simply in watching a grandchild play.

Seven Summers, first drafted when Mulk Raj Anand was a student at London University but not published till 1951, recreates teh events and feelings of the first seven years of the writer's life, or what he called his 'half unconcious and half conscious childhood'. first of the seven volumes of autobiographical fiction that Anand conceptualized but never completed, this book is full of memorable scenes and people observed through the eyes of a child. the most impressive of them all being the Coronation Durbar in Delhi to which our young hero is smuggled wrapped in a blanket so that the Sahibs might not object to the presence of 'so discordant an element into so gorgeous a ceremony'. this edition of Seven Summers is a special reissue of the classic autobiography to commemorate Anand's birth centenary.

This sly and humorous novel by Fakir Mohan Senapati—one of the pioneering spirits of modern Indian literature and an early activist in the fight against the destruction of native Indian languages—is both a literary work and a historical document. Set in Orissa in the 1830s, Six Acres and a Third provides a unique ‘view from below’ of Indian village life under colonial rule. This graceful translation faithfully conveys the rare and compelling account of how the more unsavory aspects of colonialism affected life in rural India.

Laila, orphaned daughter of a distinguished Muslim family, is brought up in her grandfather's house by orthodox aunts who keep purdah. At fifteen she moves to the home of a 'liberal' but autocratic uncle in Lucknow. Here, during the 1930s, as the struggle for Indian independence intensifies, Laila is surrounded by relatives and university friends caught up in politics. But Laila is unable to commit herself to any cause: her own fight for independence is a struggle against the claustrophobia of traditional life, from which she can only break away when she falls in love with a man whom her family has not chosen for her. With its beautiful evocation of India, its political insight and unsentimental understanding of the human heart, Sunlight on a Broken Column, first published in 1961, is a classic of Muslim life.