Favourite Stories - Premchand (Book).

Book: 20/52

Favourite Stories - Premchand

My Rating: 5/5

Just finished my 4th Hindi book of the year, and that too from one of my all-time favourite writers - Premchand. I’ve read almost all his books and stories back in school and college time, as my mother had most of them. All his stories and novels are based on the early 20th century and show us the true face of typical Indian society back in those days. Heart-touching true-to-life stories always reminded me of so many movies based on similar subjects and stories by my favourite movie director, Satyajit Ray. On your face, the straight truth is always on the right mark. This book too had a collection of 17 short stories, which sent me back in time when I actually used to play the game of Gulli-Danda with my friends and cousins. After reading the heart-touching story of two friends who meet again after decades of separation, where one has grown to be a big shot, and his friend remains the small-town guy with almost no life to claim any fame for. How they end up playing one last game and who wins is the story to read. This one made me actually call my cousin to understand how we played the game and what the penalty was for the loser :), Do you remember playing a game like that in the past? Then comes another terrific story of an untouchable woman, who wants to get inside a temple to pray for his dying son and to my shock and amazement, the then society won’t allow her to enter the temple, let alone touch the statue. How his son’s life ends without her prayers brought tears to my eyes. Thank God that this isn’t done anymore in today’s time, and we have come a long way on that prospect at least. But from all these stories, my favourite was the one called “Dhokha” where a prince goes in search of his would-be life partner without anyone’s knowledge, just to see who he was supposed to marry. Fortunately, without her knowledge, he leaves a very deep mark on her with his mythological singing, which he performs for her. Later, they do marry, but since she doesn’t know who she married, she keeps looking for that unknown singer. How the story ends was totally amazing. 

And then there are so many stories touching the typical Indian subjects with such ease that I can call his words magical; reading them in Hindi actually makes it special. Of course, after reading four back-to-back Hindi books from Jai Shankar Prasad, Sarat Chandra and even Tagore, I will say Premchand’s Hindi is the best and simplest. I actually didn't have to Google any words that made no sense to me this time. Most of his stories are either based on the women’s plight, untouchability or about those who were too poor to fight for their own rights one way or another. One of the stories reminded me of my own grandmother, who used to tell me about a very old superstitious story (not for her, though) about a girl who had three brothers. They used to call her “Tainter” (in Hindi), and she usually brought trouble to one of the brothers by just being born in the family. Can you believe that? Unfortunately, in our neighbourhood, one of the kids actually died in an accident, and since they too were three brothers and one sister, they blamed the girl for it, and since then, she was called a Tainter in our little town for the rest of her life (till we lived there). 

After reading these gems from the master storyteller, which I felt were too short with hardly 200 pages, I am looking forward to reading a few of his novels again. Do let me know if you have read anything from Premchand in recent times or if you have a personal favourite. I have so many that I don’t want to list them, but rather get them soon and read at the earliest. 

 

All's Well That Ends Well - Shakespeare (Book).

Book: 19/52

All's Well That Ends Well - Shakespeare

My Rating: 2/5

A few weeks back, I was wondering why I hadn’t read anything from Shakespeare after college. Even after loving a few adaptations of his acclaimed plays (read: tragedies), I never actually picked up anything because, first of all, reading a play is a cumbersome act anyway, and so I thought. Till last week, when I finally downloaded a legal copy of All’s Well That Ends Well from him, which was supposedly a comedy. Unfortunately, this one didn’t even make me smile, let alone laugh out loud like I always do with a PGW, my favourite comedy writer. This one was totally unreadable, and might just have become the first DNF for the year, but since it was a Shakespeare, I had to give it some respect, and it's due to this, hence I ploughed along and finished it in 3-4 days, much to my dismay. If you haven’t read it already, let me tell you it's a very simple story of one fine man who doesn’t want to get married, is forced into marriage by his own mother, empowered by the then-king, King who he works for. How they tricked him into doing something totally untoward with a woman, whom he was supposed to marry without his knowledge and in the end, he had to marry he,r much to his annoyance, just like the way I had to read this one and finish it too. Now imagine all that done some 450+ years ago, and the language, by God, it seriously was tough to read, and I had to read certain parts again for it to make any sense to me. Having said that, I have never judged an author by just one book, so I will be reading another serious one this time, followed by my personal favourite, Macbeth, for sure. If those too do not work, I will call it quits for Shakespeare and bid my adieu to him forever. 

Do let me know if you have read Shakespeare in recent times and how it fared for you? I am totally surprised by the outcome, though. 

 

21 Sarvashreshtha Kahaniyaan - Ravindranath Tagore (Book).

Book: 18/52

21 Sarvashreshtha Kahaniyaan - Ravindranath Tagore

My Rating: 5/5

The third book back-to-back in Hindi amongst the last five that I have read in March / April so far. What surprised me big time is that they are all from the Authors of the same era, Jai Shankar Prasad, Sarat Chandra and Rabindranath Tagore, but the language is the same or even identical, with so many common words used by all three of them. Or this might be the case of a common translator, unfortunately, none of the books mentions the translator’s name,e as I am sure Sarat Chandra and Tagore must have written their Stories in Bangla originally. Still, they all turn out to be heart-touching stories depicting late 19th to early 20th century life with the then women as the central core. Here also, marriage is a big subject for girls as young as 12 or a little more; someone turning 19 and unmarried will be treated as a bad mark. That made me think what has changed in the last 150-odd years after these stories were written. Last month we attended one of my cousins' marriages back home, and my daughter,r who turned 20 this year, was the apple of everyone's eye in that marriage, and I did hear so much hush-hush talking of her coming of age and that we might start looking for a good match for her :). Practically nothing has changed in our part of the world, for sure. Among the 21 stories covered in this book, my favourite will always be the “Kabuliwallah”. Little Mini is playing around with the man from Kabul who comes to her city to sell his dry fruits. His own back story as to why he never charges her father for anything that she takes or eats from his bag is totally super emotional. On top of that, when he gets arrested on the charges of murder, making sure he will never go back to his country, and his own little daughter will know nothing of him. How he keeps her memory with himself actually made not only my eyes go wet, but this time, actual tears rolled down my face. Imagine the impact of these emotional words on my fragile heart. This must be the nth time that I must have read this story and have seen a few adaptations too, but never had this impact earlier. 

The second story that touched me deep inside was “Aparichita”. Where a girl’s father breaks the shackles by agreeing to dowry, but when the moment comes and they get publicly embarrassed by the groom’s family (one particular maternal uncle), he still entertains them and serves them food, etc., but refuses to marry his daughter to the man. What happens next is predictable, but the way it ends is totally unbelievable. One has to read the story to know the outcome, as it actually shocked me by the ending and kept me quite in suspense. There are so many other short stories with open endings too, which kept me thinking for a long time, and some with such shocking and abrupt endings where the author plainly refuses to go any further. Just like the way Jai Shankar Prasad and Sarat Chandra did earlier with me in their stories. This is almost my first ever book from Tagore in a long, long time, but now I will have to look out for some or all of his works that I should read at the earliest. Do let me know if you have read anything from Tagore in recent times, and also, if you have a personal favourite that you would like to recommend. 

 

The Rosie Result - Graeme Simsion (Book).

Book: 17/52

The Rosie Result - Graeme Simsion 

My Rating: 4/5

Finally finished the Rosie Trilogy from Graeme Simsion, as I have read the earlier two parts, “The Rosie Project” and “The Rosie Effect” earlier, this one too was a quick read, just like its earlier counterparts. In the first one, Don Tilman, the Geneticist with Autism (Asperger’s), falls in love and ends up getting her in the end. Followed by the second one, where his wife Rosie, another PhD, impacts his life, and they move to the USA. This one follows the additional story of their Son Hudson, who again is autistic, and they try to make him adjust to the world around him after they move back to Australia. I believe the best of the series was the first one, because of its unique premise, but post that second one still read like a good story again, with so many twists and turns in Don and Rosie’s life once they moved to the USA. This one on the other end provides a perfect closure to the story once they move back and settle in Aussyland with Hudson, who is a replica of his Dad and equally intelligent, thoughtful and hilarious at times. Enjoyed reading his histrionics from high school days, where almost every kid goes through the same rut, and I could draw so many parallels from my own life back in the day. But I must say that the way Graeme has not only touched the Autism subject but also provides the fantastic details and deep insight into their lives, was totally terrific, and I am glad to find that it even worked with the Autism community globally, as they approve of it. I was touched by the way he has portrayed an eleven-year-old kid’s life and struggles. Of course, I end up falling in love with Hudson, the kid who is so smart and so human to the people around him. Not only his own age kids but also people double his age or older, the way he not only supports Don once he takes a break from his Career (or rather forced to) and ends up opening a Bar, it was rocking to read what the kid does for their venture and how it all turns out beautifully in the end. Graeme Simsion has definitely come very close to my favourite current author, Fredrik Backman, in heart-touching storytelling. I love Don almost as much as I loved Backman’s Ove. You’ve got to read the books to know more about the characters and stories.

Do let me know if you have read any of these from Simsion or any other works. I guess he wrote two more independent novels other than this Trilogy. And yes, he has sold the rights to his books to Sony Pictures, and very shortly, we might have the first adaptation on screen in the form of The Rosie Project movie. I will be super keen to watch it. 

 

Anmol Kahaniyan - Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (Book - Hindi)

Book: 16/52

Anmol Kahaniyan - Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (Hindi)

My Rating: 5/5

Second Hindi book of the year, yeah, I know I am slow when it comes to reading Hindi literature, call it less availability in our library or me not buying books for my over-stuffed book rack. Again, this one was a little easy on my vocabulary, but it definitely helped it grow with leaps and bounds. I can now write a few sentences or paragraphs without fail, and I am not exaggerating at all :). Terrific stories from the legendary writer from our part of the world, some were so heart-touching that I had to actually take a break and think about what I had just finished. One of the best was “Anuradha”, I am sure if you have read this one, you will agree with the roller coaster ride of a life story for poor Anuradha and no respite at all from the society as well. An unmarried woman with a brother to take care of, no family, no home, only a survival solution for her to marry an old man, and even that doesn't come any easier for her. I was not at all surprised by the subjects Sarat Chandra’s stories cover or the era he showcases for us in the current times. It was unbelievable to read what the then people were going through, especially the women in India, or say the untouchables. I actually had to Google to know the timeframe, as the Author passed away a decade before our independence, so you can take a clue what year he must have written these stories. He practically refuses to give out the exact time, age of even years, just like one of my favourite Murakami does too, a lot of times. The best thing about his stories is that they are all written in first person, and on top of that, the narrator practically talks to the reader. It is so beautiful to read where I felt like he was talking to me, some of his stories start like “Let me tell you about a pandit from our village, I am sure you dont know nothing about him…..” and a lot of instances where he leaves so many things unexplained claiming he has no words or heart to mention what happened next. In one of the stories where a bridge is being made on a river and for some reason the bridge asks for a human sacrifice, on top of that it has to be three kids no less, how story takes shapes and how it all ends was hilarious to read but then it touches a very well known myth from our part of the world, thankfully which isn’t in practice anymore. 

Having read a collection of superb short stories, I am now actually looking forward to a few of his novels in the very near future. I still remember that I read his acclaimed “Devdas” followed by the recent blockbuster movie, which was quite a turn off in comparison to the simple story. Maybe this time I will get Parineeta or Charitraheen for a change and will not watch the movies at all based on them. Do let me know if you read anything from Sarat Babu and if you have a personal favourite too.