हृदय की प्यास आचार्य चतुरसेन का अत्यंत महत्त्वपूर्ण उपन्यास है। इसमें उन्होंने ऐसे युवक-युवतियों की सरस कथा कही है, जो वासनाओं की ओर झुकते हैं और फिर भावना तथा कर्तव्य की पहेली को सुलझाने के प्रयास में लग जाते हैं। प्रारंभ से अन्त तक पठनीय एक अत्यंत रोचक उपन्यास।
Catagory: Literature & Fiction
Patthar Yug Ke Do But/पत्थर युग के दो बुत
भारतीय साहित्य में अधिकतर प्यार करने वाले युवा-युवतियों की कहानियाँ पढ़ने को मिली हैं। विवाह के बाद घटने वाली घटनाओं पर बहुत कम साहित्य लिखा गया है। इस कमी को यह उपन्यास पूरा करता है। आचार्य चतुरसेन के इस उपन्यास में सभी पात्र अपने पति या पत्नियों के अतिरिक्त अन्य व्यक्तियों के प्रति आकृष्ट हैं। वे साँपों की इस घाटी में आँख मूंदकर बढ़ते चले जाते हैं और तब तक नहीं रुकते जब तक विनाश सामने नहीं आ जाता। समाज में आज भी स्त्री-पुरुष के विवाहेतर संबंध अनुचित माने जाते हैं लेकिन ये सम्बन्ध अस्वाभाविक नहीं हैं। इसी विषय-वस्तु को आधार बनाकर एक मनोरंजक वर्णन आचार्य चतुरसेन ने किया है साथ ही इसकी कथा का गठन भी ऐसा है कि पाठक के मर्म को छुए बिना न रहे।
Rashtrapati Radhakrishnan/राष्ट्र्पति राधाकृष्णन
राष्ट्रपति राधाकृष्णन् इस युग के एक महान दार्शनिक और तत्त्व-चिन्तक के रूप में विश्व-विख्यात हैं। सारे संसार के विद्वान उन्हें प्रखर विद्वान की दृष्टि से देखते हैं। राजनीति से दूर रहते हुए भी उन्होंने भारतीय स्वाधीनता-आंदोलन में और स्वतंत्र भारत के निर्माण में भारी योगदान दिया है। विख्यात पत्रकार अवनीन्द्रकुमार विद्यालंकार ने अपनी इस पुस्तक में डा० राधाकृष्णन के प्रेरणाप्रद जीवन और उनके युगान्तरकारी विचारों का पूर्ण प्रामाणिक परिचय प्रस्तुत किया है।
Listening Now
The story of Listening Now takes place before the events of Appachana’s 2023 critically acclaimed novel, Fear and Lovely.
Mallika, a child given to weaving, is convinced that the lives of the mothers around her are dull and devoid of passion and fantasizes romantic love. The truth, which lies at the heart of this story, is completely different. Her mother, Padma, her mother’s sister, Shanta, her mother’s two friends, Madhu and Anu, and her grandmother, Rukmini, all hold wrenching secrets; their complex lives and longings are beyond the child Mallika’s comprehension. Set in 1950s and 1960s, this story encompasses the lives of two generations of women in a small, New Delhi neighbourhood, where conventional lives are lived on the surface, while below, secrets seethe—threatening to destroy everything that has been so carefully constructed to accommodate society’s structures and expectations. Rendered through six points of view, Listening Now captures the voices of these women; the spoken conversations as well as all that remains in the realm of silence. Shortlisted for the Crossword Prize when it was first published in 1998, Listening Now holds readers in its embrace from the very first line.
The Descendants
When a fiery meteor lands on the Somvanshi estate, Jay and his mentor Kaka are the first to find it, and Jay is mesmerized by the element he finds in the orb. Using his family-owned Vantra Labs, of which he is the CEO, Jay carries out extensive research into the material, along with his team of brilliant scientists. He names the material, the black element.
Little does he know the chain of events that he is about to set off. Directed by the strings of fate, Jay is heading towards the truth concealed in family legend and a prophecy that can be traced back to the times of the Mahabharata war.
When Jay realizes the supernatural possibilities that the black element is capable of, he is determined to use it for the greater good. But, as history has shown, when there is power in the wrong hands, greed takes prominence and compassion takes a back seat.
Amid a succession of heists, ploys, twists, tragedies and discoveries, will Jay be able to see the true picture? Will he understand the balance between fate and free will and how they can amalgamate to fulfil his purpose? Will he realize the prophecy? And is all of this simply history repeating itself?
Zin
WITH A FOREWORD BY N.S. MADHAVAN
Seetha, an Indian national and a student at the University of Barcelona, arrives in Diyarbakir, Turkey, in search of her Kurdish lover Devran. Having just found out that she is pregnant, she is desperate to find Devran, who has mysteriously vanished.
Seetha discovers some disturbing truths upon her arrival. The state is trying to trap Devran and his family for alleged terrorist links. The region is in the midst of a harrowing conflagration, where state-sponsored killings, enforced disappearances, political vendettas and torture cells are the norm.
Seetha herself comes under surveillance of the Turkish security forces, who take her into custody and brutally torture her. In the scramble to rescue Sita from their clutches, many find themselves caught up in the conflict between the Kurds and the Turkish government.
Set against the 2015–16 Turkish repression of the Kurdistan movement, Zîn is a novel in which an ordinary love story between people of two different nationalities and cultures is flung into an unexpected, extraordinary political and historical setting. The pacey and emotionally stirring novel throws light on how governments reduce minority communities to a lower status and use them as a tool to seize power—a situation that’s become all too familiar across the world.
The Lighthouse Family
Keepers of the lonely lighthouse at Türkiye’s westernmost tip watch in horror as the Second World War sets the Aegean on fire.
Little K feels the weight of the world as he struggles with his desire to go to the city school or help look after the lighthouse as only he can. But his brother Ilyas finds a saintly courage in his limp bones and his sister Feriha becomes the strength of their spine.
While K ploughed the field in the mornings, Ilyas’ learnt the lessons in daylight to help K learn in the flickering beam of the lighthouse; knowing very well that’s the closest he’ll ever get to school. Feriha guarded the lighthouse; knowing she might be the only answer to their struggles. Their aunt Hanim Hala chanted around the mastic tree planted as a sapling: the soul of the home they left behind.
How does their happiest morning turn into an endless night, how does a family with little to do beyond the lighthouse get ripped apart by a war that was not even theirs?
As K says “…I [‘ve] realized that emptiness was the worst thing that could fill you.”
The K that grows up from that is an answer to the world that forgets about kindness in its endless pursuit of power. An emotional and warm story reminding us of the need to rise for our children, the world’s children and to protect their dreams.
Agnikaal/अग्निकाल
यह कहानी मध्यकाल के मशहूर सेनानायक मलिक काफ़ूर की है जो अल्लाउद्दीन खिलजी के दरबार में उसका नायब था। काफ़ूर को हिजड़ा बनाकर कई-कई बार बेचा गया था और बाद में वह खिलजी के दरबार में पहुँचा। उसने बड़े-बड़े कारनामे किए। उसने मंगोल हमलों से दिल्ली की रक्षा की, दक्कन का फतह किया और देवगिरि व वारंगल का राज्य जीतकर सुल्तान के कदमों में रख दिया। लेकिन उसकी महात्वाकांक्षा बाद में उसे ले डूबी और उसका पतन हुआ। इस कहानी में जीवन के कई रंग हैं और मानवीय भावनाओं का प्रस्फुटन भी है।
Kabuliwala Tatha Anya Kahaniyan/काबुलीवाला तथा अन्य कहानियाँ
‘काबुलीबाला’ में रवि बाबू की श्रेष्ठ कहानियां हैं। ये कहानियां विश्व के सर्वश्रेष्ठ कहानीकारों की रचनाओं के समकक्ष रखी जाती हैं। प्रत्येक कहानी मानवीय प्रेम को अपने में समेटे हुए है और पाठक के अन्तर्मन को झकझोर देती है। ‘काबुलीबाला’ पर एक प्रसिद्ध फिल्म बनी थी, जिसमें स्व. बलराज साहनी ने पठान की यादगार भूमिका निभाई थी।
Loot
Abbas is just seventeen years old when his gifts as a woodcarver come to the attention of Tipu Sultan. He is drawn into service at the palace to build a giant tiger automaton for Tipu’s sons, a gift to commemorate their return from British captivity. His fate—and the fate of the wooden tiger—will mirror the vicissitudes of nations and dynasties ravaged by war across India and Europe.
Working alongside the legendary French clockmaker Lucien du Leze, Abbas hones his craft, learns French, and meets Jehanne, the daughter of a French expatriate. When Du Leze is finally permitted to return home to Rouen, he invites Abbas to come along as his apprentice. But by the time Abbas travels to Europe, Tipu’s palace has been looted by British forces, and the tiger automaton has disappeared. To prove himself, Abbas must retrieve the tiger from an estate in the English countryside, where it is displayed as a part of a collection of plundered art.
A spellbinding historical novel set in the eighteenth century: a hero’s quest, a love story, the story of a young artist coming of age, and an exuberant heist adventure that traces the bloody legacy of colonialism across two continents and fifty years.