The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey

The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey PDF Author: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar
Publisher: Rupa Publications
ISBN: 9789382277323
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Rupi birthed her eldest son squatting in the middle of a paddy field, shin-deep in mud and slush. Soon after, Gurubari, her rival in love, gave her an illness that was like the alakjari vine which engulfs the tallest, greenest trees of the forest and sucks their hearts out. Now Rupi, once the strongest woman in her village, lives out her days on a cot in the backyard, and her life dissolves into incomprehensible ruin around her. The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey is the story of the Baskeys the patriarch Somai; his alcoholic, irrepressible daughter Putki; Khorda, Putki s devout, upright husband, and their sons Sido and Doso; and Sido s wife Rupi. Equally, the novel is about Kadamdihi, the Santhal village in Jharkhand in which the Baskeys live. For it is in full view of the village that the various large and small dramas of the Baskeys s lives play out, even as the village cheers them on, finds fault with them, prays for them and, most of all, enjoys the spectacle they provide. An astonishingly assured and original debut, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey brings to vivid life a village, its people, and the gods good and bad who influence them. Through their intersecting lives, it explores the age-old notions of good and evil and the murky ways in which the heart and the mind work.

The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey

The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey PDF Author: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar
Publisher: Rupa Publications
ISBN: 9789382277323
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Get Book Here

Book Description
Rupi birthed her eldest son squatting in the middle of a paddy field, shin-deep in mud and slush. Soon after, Gurubari, her rival in love, gave her an illness that was like the alakjari vine which engulfs the tallest, greenest trees of the forest and sucks their hearts out. Now Rupi, once the strongest woman in her village, lives out her days on a cot in the backyard, and her life dissolves into incomprehensible ruin around her. The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey is the story of the Baskeys the patriarch Somai; his alcoholic, irrepressible daughter Putki; Khorda, Putki s devout, upright husband, and their sons Sido and Doso; and Sido s wife Rupi. Equally, the novel is about Kadamdihi, the Santhal village in Jharkhand in which the Baskeys live. For it is in full view of the village that the various large and small dramas of the Baskeys s lives play out, even as the village cheers them on, finds fault with them, prays for them and, most of all, enjoys the spectacle they provide. An astonishingly assured and original debut, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey brings to vivid life a village, its people, and the gods good and bad who influence them. Through their intersecting lives, it explores the age-old notions of good and evil and the murky ways in which the heart and the mind work.

The Adivasi Will Not Dance

The Adivasi Will Not Dance PDF Author: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789385288647
Category : Santal (South Asian people)
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description


My Father's Garden

My Father's Garden PDF Author: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar
Publisher: Feel Books Pvt Limited
ISBN: 9789388326858
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Spanning half a life, My Father's Garden tells the story of a young doctor--the unnamed narrator--as he negotiates love and sexuality, his need for companionship, and the burdens of memory and familial expectation. The opening section, 'Lover', finds him studying medicine in Jamshedpur. At college, he discovers an all-consuming passion for Samir, a junior, who possesses his body, mind and heart. Yet, on their last morning together, when he asks Samir to kiss him goodbye, his lover tells him, 'A kiss is only for someone special.' In 'Friend', the young doctor, escaping heartbreak, finds relief in Pakur where he strikes up an unusual friendship with Bada Babu, the head clerk of the hospital where he is posted. In Bada Babu's house, they indulge a shared love for drink, delicious food and convivial company. But when government bulldozers arrive to tear down the neighbourhood, and Bada Babu's house, the young doctor uncovers a sordid tale of apathy and exploitation--and a side to his new friend that leaves him disillusioned. And in 'Father', unable, ultimately, to flee the pain, the young doctor takes refuge in his parents' home in Ghatsila. As he heals, he reflects on his father--once a vital man who had phenomenal success at work and in Adivasi politics, then an equally precipitous downfall--and wonders if his obsessive gardening has anything to do with the choices his son has made. Written with deep empathy and searing emotional intensity, and in the clear, unaffected prose that is the hallmark of Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar's style, My Father's Garden marks a major talent of Indian fiction writing at the top of his form.

Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire

Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire PDF Author: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789388070430
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
Is Jwala Kumar a bird? A bat? A chameleon? Or is he something no one has ever seen before? And did he really just fall out of the sky into Champakbagh? Mohan Chandar lives with his wife and three children in the tiny and remote village of Champakbagh. One day, he rescues a strange creature from the storm that is raging outside. When he brings the creature home, the family is astonished. What sort of animal is this? Is he friendly? What does he eat? Where will he sleep? They name him Jwala Kumar, and as the days go by, they discover that Jwala Kumar is no ordinary animal. He has special powers that he uses to help his human family in their times of need. When the days are dark and hope seems to dim, Jwala Kumar lights up their lives in many ways. But who is Jwala Kumar and will he stay forever? Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire is a captivating story of innocence and friendship, of magic and love, and of gifts that last a lifetime.

Seasons of the Palm

Seasons of the Palm PDF Author: Perumāḷmurukan̲
Publisher: Tara Publishing
ISBN: 9788186211823
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
A literary masterpiece (translated from the Tamil) that opens a door to the poignant world of India's 'untouchables'.

Accidental Magic

Accidental Magic PDF Author: Keshava Guha
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9353573971
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
'A terrific debut. Sparkling, very (very) funny, and deeply moving' ARAVIND ADIGA 'Truly something different, and exhilarating' GARY SHTEYNGART Set in Boston and Bangalore, Accidental Magic is the story of four very different people whose lives are brought together by Harry Potter. For Kannan, Curtis, Rebecca and Malathi, social outsiders and people adrift, the intense and diverse world of Harry Potter fandom offers community, even a sense of meaning. An extraordinary novel about how flawed relationships can be; how we battle loneliness, live on hope and search for that perfect connection---often settling for imperfection---it is also about the tension between duty and the individual pursuit of happiness. Accidental Magic is a work of great imagination and marks the arrival of an exciting and powerful new voice.

All the Lives We Never Lived

All the Lives We Never Lived PDF Author: Anuradha Roy
Publisher: Washington Square Press
ISBN: 1982100524
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
From the Man Booker Prize-nominated author of Sleeping on Jupiter and “one of India’s greatest living authors” (O, The Oprah Magazine), a poignant and sweeping novel set in India during World War II and the present day about a son’s quest to uncover the truth about his mother. In my childhood, I was known as the boy whose mother had run off with an Englishman. The man was in fact German, but in small‑town India in those days, all white foreigners were largely thought of as British. So begins the “gracefully wrought” (Kirkus Reviews) story of Myshkin and his mother, Gayatri, who rebels against tradition to follow her artist’s instinct for freedom. Freedom of a different kind is in the air across India. The fight against British rule is reaching a critical turn. The Nazis have come to power in Germany. At this point of crisis, two strangers arrive in Gayatri’s town, opening up to her the vision of other possible lives. What took Myshkin’s mother from India and Dutch-held Bali in the 1930s, ripping a knife through his comfortingly familiar universe? Excavating the roots of the world in which he was abandoned, Myshkin comes to understand the connections between the anguish at home and a war‑torn universe overtaken by patriotism. Evocative and moving, “this mesmerizing exploration of the darker consequences of freedom, love, and loyalty is an astonishing display of Roy’s literary prowess” (Publishers Weekly).

Bitter Wormwood

Bitter Wormwood PDF Author: Easterine Kire
Publisher: Zubaan
ISBN: 9381017468
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Kohima, 2007. A young man has been gunned down in cold blood—the latest casualty in the conflict that has scarred the landscape and brutalized the people of Nagaland. Easterine Kire’s novel traces the story of one man’s life, from 1937 to the present day. The small incidents of Mose’s childhood, his family, the routines and rituals of traditional village life paint an evocative picture of a peaceful way of life, now long-vanished. The coming of a radio into Mose’s family’s house marks the beginning of the changes that would connect them to the wider world. They learn of partition, independence, a land called America. Mose and his friends become involved in the Naga struggle for Independence, and are caught in a maelstrom of violence that ends up ripping communities apart. The herb, bitter wormwood, was traditionally believed to keep bad spirits away. For the Nagas, facing violent struggle all around, it becomes a powerful talisman: “We sure could do with some of that old magic now.” Bitter Wormwood gives a poignant insight into the human cost behind the political headlines from one of India’s most beautiful and misunderstood regions. “Once opened [the book is] tough to close, so congenial are the leading characters and so riveting the events in their lives.” —Cairns Media Magazine Published by Zubaan.

The Legend of Himal and Nagrai

The Legend of Himal and Nagrai PDF Author: Onaiza Drabu
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789389231298
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Filled with serpent kings, long lost lovers, magical birds and seductive witches, The Legend of Himal and Nagrai is an enchanting collection of folk tales from a land as beautiful as it is misunderstood--Kashmir. In the title story, the serpent king Nagrai takes on human form to be with his one true love--the princess Himal. But despite Nagrai's warnings, when Himal doubts her lover's origins, all hell breaks loose. Will the star-crossed lovers ever be together? In 'Akanandun', having pined for a son for years, a couple is finally blessed with a beautiful boy--but on one diabolical condition. Will the couple be able to keep their word? In 'Shikaslad', a pauper goes on a quest to awaken his luck, which has been 'asleep' for years. Will he recognize good luck staring him in the face? These and twenty-six other delightful folk tales--painstakingly collected and retold by the author--bring to light the immensely rich, multicultural and largely undocumented tradition of storytelling in Kashmir. At a time when Kashmiri voices are being brutally silenced by an authoritarian state, this book is a vibrant tapestry celebrating Kashmiri life--in the words of its people.

Jangam The Movement

Jangam The Movement PDF Author: Debendranath Acharya
Publisher: Global Collective Publishers
ISBN: 1954021178
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
Jangam (Movement) is the poignant tale of ordinary people who embarked on a great, unknown journey in the midst of WWII but whose bids for survival were thwarted as they battled Nature. Hardly any account of this massive calamity has been registered in India’s literature, says Debendranath Acharya in the late 1970s, in the preface to his Sahitya Akademi award-winning Assamese novel. During this migration an estimated 450,000-500,000 Burmese Indians walked to north-east India, fleeing from the Japanese advance and also from escalating ethnic violence in the Burmese theatre of war. ‘Corpses lay everywhere, and there were no jackals and vultures to pick them clean... All other forms of animal life seem to have abjured this pathway, save for scores of beautiful butterflies that cover the bodies in a sea of colour’, say contemporary foreign accounts of this exodus. Jangam is the only sustained fictional treatment of this long march.