Theek Tumhare Peeche - Manav Kaul.
In my spree of reading Hindi books, I gladly picked up this one as it was priced very nicely (read under 100/-) and I must say it was way worth so much 
. Last year a close friend of mine had introduced me to Author Manav Kaul, before that I knew him as an acclaimed actor only and had even seen a few of the movies that he worked in, undoubtedly he is a good actor. I had no idea his prowess with a pen would be this beautiful. After liking his previous book "Prem Kabootar", I picked up this one without a thought and that was a great decision. I can bet my life that none of his contemporaries write the way he writes - straight from the heart. I totally loved the way how he interacts in his own words with the reader too , there are a few instances in his short stories in this book itself where he claims that he has left his stories midways to develop on their own and if we the reader do not trust him, we can abandon the story or the book and in the next page he says "Since you are still here, let's take the story forward". Now how kool is that? isn't it? I have no memory that I ever read a book where the Author talks like that barring of-course "Sarat Chandra" whose books I recently read and he did exactly the same with his readers. It is quite possible that Manav too must have read his book and picked up the idea from there but it is brilliantly incorporated in his stories.
. Last year a close friend of mine had introduced me to Author Manav Kaul, before that I knew him as an acclaimed actor only and had even seen a few of the movies that he worked in, undoubtedly he is a good actor. I had no idea his prowess with a pen would be this beautiful. After liking his previous book "Prem Kabootar", I picked up this one without a thought and that was a great decision. I can bet my life that none of his contemporaries write the way he writes - straight from the heart. I totally loved the way how he interacts in his own words with the reader too , there are a few instances in his short stories in this book itself where he claims that he has left his stories midways to develop on their own and if we the reader do not trust him, we can abandon the story or the book and in the next page he says "Since you are still here, let's take the story forward". Now how kool is that? isn't it? I have no memory that I ever read a book where the Author talks like that barring of-course "Sarat Chandra" whose books I recently read and he did exactly the same with his readers. It is quite possible that Manav too must have read his book and picked up the idea from there but it is brilliantly incorporated in his stories.
What I loved most about his short stories is that they are mostly taken from his own life and times he spent in the smaller towns during the course of his younger days. Even the beautiful book cover is nothing but a picture of his own home's window back in Kashmir. It is so heart touching where it is mentioned that when he visited the place last time briefly, he had such amazing memories of the place, he never forgot the little hole in the wall where he used to hide the chocolates can one ever get over memories like that? That sent me back in time to my granny places in Bhopal, where being a very young kid I lost one of my favorite whistle somewhere between the kitchen and the living room, the house back then was so huge that I never found it, yet every-time I visited her place even after years my eyes for one moment will look for that lost whistle that I never found. His stories have exactly that same old rusted feeling which unwanted gets invoked in our hearts when we visit our own places where we were born and brought up. The little stories made me smile, close my eyes and made me go back to my own childhood and when I look at them from where I am right now, they sound exactly like his own stories. Even his love stories are amazing, where he is not sure if his mother going to endorse them or his separation from his first wife and his mother's unease in knowing that her kid (a guy in mid 30's may be) must be uncomfortable living alone and all that.
can one ever get over memories like that? That sent me back in time to my granny places in Bhopal, where being a very young kid I lost one of my favorite whistle somewhere between the kitchen and the living room, the house back then was so huge that I never found it, yet every-time I visited her place even after years my eyes for one moment will look for that lost whistle that I never found. His stories have exactly that same old rusted feeling which unwanted gets invoked in our hearts when we visit our own places where we were born and brought up. The little stories made me smile, close my eyes and made me go back to my own childhood and when I look at them from where I am right now, they sound exactly like his own stories. Even his love stories are amazing, where he is not sure if his mother going to endorse them or his separation from his first wife and his mother's unease in knowing that her kid (a guy in mid 30's may be) must be uncomfortable living alone and all that.
My favorite one story if I have to pick from this collection is the one about "Mumtaz Bhai Patang Wale", incredible story of a young kid whose only wish and dream is to fly a kite and impress the legendary Mumtaz Bhai who makes patang . What all struggles the little kid goes through to first get the kite and the thread and the subsequent action is totally heart touching, as the kid grows up and moves out of the small town on his return just like I used to search for the whistle he tries to find the Kite-man, you have to read the book to know how it all ends and what he does in the past, the reason behind it and the regrets. I was actually so touched to read the story that I tried getting in touch with the Author (and failed) as I wanted answers to a few questions I had related to his main character from the story and about something that he does which made me have a few sleepless nights. I hope that I get my answers sometime soon . I must say there are a very writers whose words are that magical that we the readers actually start comparing them with our own lives and in turn at times feel as if someone is actually telling our own stories to us again, been there done that feeling I mean. This collection has a story called "Maa" which is my second favorite and it was such an amazing story of a mother and son relationship that I finished the book, packed it and mailed it to my mom. I am sure she is going to love the book and the stories and once she reads the story of this mother, she will get my message without me saying a word. Usually we do not talk that much but I hope after she reads that story, she will pick up the phone and call me and that is how powerful that story is with such an amazing message. As soon as I finished this, I already got his third book and read somewhere that his fourth is right round the corner getting published as I post this.
. What all struggles the little kid goes through to first get the kite and the thread and the subsequent action is totally heart touching, as the kid grows up and moves out of the small town on his return just like I used to search for the whistle he tries to find the Kite-man, you have to read the book to know how it all ends and what he does in the past, the reason behind it and the regrets. I was actually so touched to read the story that I tried getting in touch with the Author (and failed) as I wanted answers to a few questions I had related to his main character from the story and about something that he does which made me have a few sleepless nights. I hope that I get my answers sometime soon . I must say there are a very writers whose words are that magical that we the readers actually start comparing them with our own lives and in turn at times feel as if someone is actually telling our own stories to us again, been there done that feeling I mean. This collection has a story called "Maa" which is my second favorite and it was such an amazing story of a mother and son relationship that I finished the book, packed it and mailed it to my mom. I am sure she is going to love the book and the stories and once she reads the story of this mother, she will get my message without me saying a word. Usually we do not talk that much but I hope after she reads that story, she will pick up the phone and call me and that is how powerful that story is with such an amazing message. As soon as I finished this, I already got his third book and read somewhere that his fourth is right round the corner getting published as I post this.
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