‘What First Proof says is, buy the ticket, take your chances, come on board—the view is pretty good from where we sit.’—Time Out
In First Proof we continue to publish the best new writing from PBI – India. The selections in this sixth volume range from essays, short stories and poems to memoirs, ethnographies and profiles. You will discover exciting first-time writers and come across familiar names writing in new genres. You will also read some outstanding translations of writers from PBI – Indian languages. This collection is rich proof that variety continues to thrive in PBI – Indian writing.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Non-fiction
AnPBI – Indita Ghose
Annu Jalais
Begum Anis Kidwai and Ayesha Kidwai
Chatura Rao
K.R. Guruprasad
Mayank Shekar
S.G. Kabra
Sunanda Sikdar and Anchita Ghatak
Swati Kaushal
Fiction
Benyamin and Joseph Koyipally
Deven Sansare
Devika Rege
Kanchana Ugbabe
Makarand Sathe and Shanta Gokhale
Purnima Rao
Ranjan Nautiyal
Somnath Mukherji
Poetry
Ashoke Bhattacharya
Keyur R. Patel
The definitive biography of free India’s first Head of State
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878-1972), popularly called C.R. or Rajaji, is usually remembered as free India’s Governor-General, or the first Indian Head of State. At one time considered Gandhi’s heir, this brilliant lawyer from Salem was regarded in pre-independence years as one of the top five leaders of the Congress along with Nehru, Prasad, Patel and Azad.
This biography written by Rajaji’s grandson, the noted historian and biographer Rajmohan Gandhi, highlights Rajaji’s role in the events preceding Partition. A statesman and conciliator of conflicts between stalwarts, he was perhaps the sole Congress leader in the forties to admit to the likelihood of Partition. He prophesied even then that Pakistan might break up in twenty-five years!
Later, C.R. became a strident critic of Nehru and the Congress. As a founder of the Swatantra party in the fifties, he attacked the ‘permit-license Raj’ fearing its potential for corruption and stagnation, even while the tide was in favour of Nehru’s socialistic pattern.
Meticulously researched, using C.R.’s private papers, his contemporaries’ archives, extensive interviews with eyewitnesses and contemporary accounts and newspapers, this
intensely personal, yet objective account gives us an unparalleled portrait of one of the outstanding Indians of this century.
100 classic tales from the
master of Bengali short fiction
‘Banaphool’s love of precision and economyof words, his eye for the apparently insignificant detail give us a sudden glimpse of the human condition ‘
-Nabaneeta Dev Sen
Translated into English for the first time, these stories by legendary writer Banaphool cleverly explore how life’s absurdities are negotiated through human relationships- whether between friends,lovers family or strangers.
In the title story, a lovelorn boy waits earnestly in his hostel room for the arrival of his beloved, only to be greeted by a rude shock. The fickle nature of love is at the centre of ‘Conjugal Dreams’ , as two newlyweds confront their old loves. ‘The Homecoming’ is about an isurance agent’s encounter with a most unexpected co-passenger while travelling home by train for Durga Puja. And a harmless wager leads to very dramatic consequences in ‘The Corpse’. These sparkling vignettes are moulded out of the everyday, and range from poignant and tragic to whimsical and satirical.
Reminiscent of the effortless prose of O. Henry, Banaphool’s stories conjure up a host of enduring characters while making sharp observations about the human condition.
The greatest weapon a warrior takes into battle is neither a sword nor a shield, neither a spear nor a steed-but an invisible mirror that reflects the path to self inquiry. By contemplating and analyzing this reflection, the warrior becomes a better individual and a true leader. With every battle fought and every action performed, using this mirror to look within can greatly increase levels of consciousness. The mirror is a potent weapon in the everyday battles we all have to fight. But how do we discover this mirror? Though we see it every day, we seldom realize that the world is our mirror. The reason we find fault with others lies within us, not them; our perception of the world around us is actually a reflection of who we are and what we believe in. To clarify the concept of the ‘warrior’s mirror’, the author creates a character called Hercules, named after the fabled Greek hero. This Modern-Day Protagonist Is A Common Man Who Helps Resolve The Problems Of The People He Encounters, Bringing Happiness Into Their Lives As Well As His Own. Ultimately He Attains The Highest Level Of Consciousness By Learning To Look Into The Warrior’s Mirror.
1950s Calcutta. Seventeen-year-old Shankar walks on to Old Post Office Street to become a clerk in the Calcutta High Court. There he meets the last English barrister, and thus begins their unusual and unforgettable relationship.
The Great Unknown is the moving story of the many people Shankar meets in the courtrooms and lawyers’ chambers of Old Post Office Street—some seeking justice, others watching the drama of life unfold. It offers a uniquely personal glimpse into their PBI – World of unfulfilled dreams and duplicity, of unexpected tragedy, as well as hope and exhilaration.
Here you will meet Marian Stuart, who journeys from Lebanon to PBI – India in search of a husband and happiness; the once-rich but now-destitute Englishman James Gould; Helen Grubert, the embittered Anglo-PBI – Indian typist, who wins her breach-of-promise case but has a miraculous change of heart; Nicholas Droulas, the betrayed Greek sailor desperate for revenge; Shefali Mitra, the distraught mother fighting to hold on to the daughter she did not give birth to; Chhoka-da, the benevolent babu who takes the young clerk under his wing; and the barrister sahib who profoundly enriches Shankar’s life with his own experiences.
The Great Unknown (Kato Ajanarey), Sankar’s debut novel, first appeared in Desh in 1955. An instant success, it remains immensely popular more than fifty years after its publication. This first-ever English translation captures the simplicity and poignancy of the original.
