Quixotic nonconformists in small towns and young newly-weds trying to keep up with the times; a forlorn retiree helpless in the face of contemporary anger and a middle-class woman’s bond with her maid. Fourteen well-crafted stories give us a sense of the daily life of a wide cast of characters. Hasan’s protagonists are, as always, inward-looking, and whimsical and vulnerable outliers. Where is their place in the new order, where have they come from and where are they going?
Quietly devastating, subtly subversive and wonderfully wry, Hasan is a home-grown talent whose stories are increasingly the good address for authentic Indian fiction.
Retired sportswriter W.G. Karunasena is dying. He will spend his final months drinking arrack, upsetting his wife, ignoring his son, and tracking down Pradeep S. Mathew, an elusive spin bowler he considers ‘the greatest cricketer to walk the earth’.
On his quest to find this unsung genius, W.G. uncovers a coach with six fingers, a secret bunker below a famous stadium, an LTTE warlord, and startling truths about Sri Lanka, cricket and himself.
Ambitious, playful and strikingly original, Chinaman is a novel about cricket and Sri Lanka and of Sri Lanka through its cricket. Hailed by the Gratiaen Prize judges as ‘one of the most imaginative works of contemporary Sri Lankan fiction’, it is an astounding book.
Contemporary dilemmas, whether in business or politics, bear an uncanny resemblance to the predicaments witnessed in the ever-timely epic, the Mahabharata. Who else but Bhishma Pitamah then to the rescue of the modern-day manager, politician or bureaucrat! In the epic, Bhishma is the upholder of truth and dharma, his life shaped by the difficult choices he makes. He isn’t always infallible, but even where his decisions are questionable, he serves as a role model.
Prof. N. Balasubramanian uses this powerful figure and his selfless values as a guide to make the right choices in The Bhishma Way. He discusses the importance of values, dharma, truth, justice and governance in businesses and governments. Analyses of real-life cases — among them, Union Carbide and the Bhopal gas tragedy, James Hardie and asbestos in Australia, and Ok Tedi in Papua New Guinea — complement the mythological stories and insightful anecdotes in this illuminating and thought-provoking book. This serves as an instructive read for anyone striving for a higher moral code in day-to-day decision-making and leadership.
Set in Malgudi, a corrupt tourist guide, together with his lover, the dancer Rosie, leads a prosperous life before he is thrown into prison. After release he rests on the steps of an abandoned temple when a peasant passing by mistakes him for a holy man. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he begins to play the part, acting as a spiritual guide to the village community. Raju’s holiness is put to the test when a drought strikes the village, and he is asked to fast for twelve days to summon the rains.
‘The best of R.K. Narayan’s enchanting novels’-New Yorker
‘A brilliant accomplishment . . . Narayan is the compassionate man who can write of human life as comedy’-New York Times Book Review
‘Narayan is such a natural writer, so true to his experience and emotions’-V.S. Naipaul
The First Volume Of This Collector S Edition Brings Together Five Of Bankimchandra S Best-Known Works In English Translation. Set In The Bengal Of Emperor Jehangir S Time, Kapalkundala Tells The Story Of Nabakumar, A Young Woman Named Kapalkundala Whom He Rescues From A Tantric Intent On Human Sacrifice, And The Beautiful Lutfunnisa Who Has Sold Her Heart On Marrying Him. In Bishabriksha (The Poison Tree), Set In Bankimchandra S Own Time, Nagendra Is Torn Between His Devoted Wife Suryamukhi And The Bewitching Young Widow Kundanandini. Unable To Prioritize Either Of The Women He Cares For, Nagendra Ends Up Losing Both. Indira Is A Lighthearted Tale Of Playful Intrigues: Upendra Does Not Realize That His Wife Indira Is Now Working As A Cook In His Friend S House, And Is Given A Royal Run-Around By Indira And Subhasini, Her Employer. Krishnakanta S Will Is A Tragedy Of Lust, Infidelity, Greed And Death Revolving Around Govindalal, His Wife Bhramar, The Attractive Widow Rohini, And A Stolen Will. Rajani, The Story Of A Blind Girl And Two Men, Sachindra And Amarnath, Is A Psychologically Taut Tale; It Is The First Indian Novel Where Characters Narrate Their Stories In The First Person.
Evoking The Bengal Of Yore In All Its Hues, Bankimchandra S Novels Explore Love And Relationships And The Manner In Which Society Shapes Them. Translated Exclusively For Penguin, These Superbly Crafted Novels Are Sure To Hold Readers In Thrall Today Just As They Did Over A Century Ago.
The Lost Victory perfectly captures the cultural essence of 1942 and the urgency of this colourful and moving pageant of a nation about to throw off the yoke of foreign rule. Essentially, it is the story of Buta Singh, a shrewd and wily official working with the British, and of Sher Singh, his vain and ambitious son driven to rebellion against the foreign master. It is also the story of the women of the family-Champak, Sher’s beautiful wife, her wild passions bursting the bonds of century-old prohibitions, and Sabhrai, Sher’s mother, whose matriarchal strength sustains the family in its time of crisis. What happens to this family when a brutal and senseless murder sets father against son, wife against husband, is told against the background of an India torn by religious tension and fraternal strife.
Written by the founder editor of “Yojana”, and editor of the “Illustrated Weekly of India”.
‘A Khushwant Singh short story is not flamboyant but modest, restrained, well-crafted…Perhaps his greatest gift as a writer is a wonderful particularity of description’—London Magazine Khushwant Singh first established his reputation as a writer through the short story. His stories—wry, poignant, erotic and, above all, human—bear testimony to Khushwant Singh’s remarkable range and his ability to create an unforgettable PBI – World. Spanning over half a century, this volume contains all the short stories Khushwant Singh has ever written, including the delightfully tongue-in-cheek ‘The Maharani of Chootiapuram’, written in 2008. ‘Khushwant’s stories enthrall…[He has]an ability akin to that of Somerset Maugham…the ability to entertain intelligently’—PBI – India Today ‘His stories are better than [those of] any PBI – Indian writing in English—Times of PBI – India ‘The Collected Short Stories leaves the reader in a delightful, inebriated trance’—Sunday Chronicle ‘He is not an ordinary short story writer…[Collected Stories] is delightful reading’—Hindustan Times
The Lost Victory perfectly captures the cultural essence of 1942 and the urgency of this colourful and moving pageant of a nation about to throw off the yoke of foreign rule. Essentially, it is the story of Buta Singh, a shrewd and wily official working with the British, and of Sher Singh, his vain and ambitious son driven to rebellion against the foreign master. It is also the story of the women of the family-Champak, Sher’s beautiful wife, her wild passions bursting the bonds of century-old prohibitions, and Sabhrai, Sher’s mother, whose matriarchal strength sustains the family in its time of crisis. What happens to this family when a brutal and senseless murder sets father against son, wife against husband, is told against the background of an India torn by religious tension and fraternal strife.
