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How can Nepal Become an ‘Asian Tiger’?

Posted on by Penguin India

By 2040, it is projected that China will be the largest economy in the world, followed by India. The two put together will have nearly a third of the world’s population and GDP. Now, there exists an opportunity for Nepal to unleash its potential and return to the time when it had the advantage of being in between two prospering neighbours. In ‘Unleashing the Vajra’, author Sujeev Shukya tries to understand the past in order to learn how to get the future right—Nepal now has just two decades to relive its glorious past.

The listicle below brings to the forefront a few quick facts to show that Nepal has the potential to regain its past glory and make a mark.

Strategic Location 

By 2050, it is estimated that, the Shanghai–Mumbai axis will continue to dominate the agenda of future markets, economic development and global economic thought leadership. Nepal falls right in the middle of all this.

Population Boon 

Nepal is geographically small, but Nepalis tend to forget that they are also the forty-eighth most populated country in the world with a population that is nearly one and a half times that of Australia, and only a few millions less than that of Canada.

Tourism

An annual tourist volume of more than 30 million Chinese travelling to the Tibet Autonomous Region every year can also be a potential lucrative market for Nepal.

Vision 

Nepal needs to look at how it will deliver the same vision of prosperity to its people by 2050 with equal emphasis on capital, asset utilization, parameters of human development, and of course, happiness.

Economy and Growth

For Nepal to graduate to a middle-income country by 2030, when the country’s population will be around 36 million, it needs to be a $100 billion economy with a per capita income of $2500. This would require an investment of about $7–8 billion each year.

New Model 

Nepal is the prospective bridge between India and China, two countries that will be controlling 35 percent of global GDP in 2050. This is the time for Nepal to emerge with a new economic growth model rather than being a yam between two boulders.

Sujeev Shakya argues that it is imperative to understand history and learn from it to shape events for a better future. Unleashing the Vajra outlines the factors that will determine Nepal’s destiny in the years to come.

“Happy, Happy You Make Me!” – Meet Alicia’s Dearest George!

Posted on by Penguin India

There’s a reason they say February is the month of love. Thanks to Alicia Souza, and her (PDA-aversive) husband, George, we have had the corniest and loveliest and mushiest February so far (who could have thought we had it in us?).

Our favourite illustrator is admitting her love in artistic style! Amidst all the cuddles and kisses and the banter of married life, our biggest takeaway from her latest book Dearest George is how much these two lovebirds mean to each other.

Call it a post-valentine’s hangover, but we decided to revisit what George means to Alicia!

He is family. Period.

We have said this before and we will say it again – this is our favourite family portrait!

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Admit it, Alicia – You Love the (Closeted) Romantic!

We know the whole point of penning down this book was to prove to the world that George is, after all, as mushy as all of us.

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Heart of Gold AND a Nice Beard – What’s not to Love?

We totally feel the shared love for food, to be honest.

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The Momo Cuddles.

Isn’t companionship about those special lazy mornings, after all?

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He is Versatile.

George is a complete package, we have to say. #HusbandGoals, much?

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The Perfect Cure for Bad Days.

Nothing compares to the person that can make you smile on bad days – we know how difficult that is!

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He Makes her HAPPY. 

Do we need to say more?

George makes Alicia happy – and us too, because this book wouldn’t exist without him!

February is incomplete without celebrating love, and with this post, we are also thanking George for bringing so much love into Alicia’s life and ours!

When Destiny Rolls Her Dice and Flips Fortunes

Posted on by Penguin India

When the Kingdom of Aum falls under the spell of corrupt forces, all its past glory turns to dust and the land, once lush and fertile, becomes a barren wasteland. It falls upon Saahas, the courageous young General and heir to the throne, to fight the darkness that had shrouded his beloved Aum. But victory eludes Saahas as the play of destiny takes him on a journey both arduous and treacherous.  General Saahas becomes a hunted man and Aum plunges into chaos, submitting meekly to the tyranny of the self-appointed Raja Shunen and the wily Queen Manmaani.

What was this web that Saahas had become entangled in?

Submerged under wave upon wave of dilemmas, Saahas is bewildered by the power of the Saade Saati–the dreaded seven and a half years- yet is determined to find his way towards his destiny.

Gitanjali Murari’s The Crown of the Seven Stars begins with a letter from Destiny which hints at a revelation- ‘And I promise you an enthralling story of one man who dared to fight me, catching me quite unawares, so revealing the truth about these accursed seven and a half years.’

Read on to find out what the period of Saade Saati brings –

The fear of failure

Saade Saati, the dreaded seven and a half years that befall each person at least once in their lifetime, brings with it crushing failure-

‘You fear it, for it results in nothing but failure; failure that eats you from the inside, corroding you, until you wish you were dead. And when you emerge on the other side of it, you weep, not with relief, but because you are quite broken.’

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There is light at the end of the tunnel

Saade Saati may make the sufferer feel helpless and fearful but it is a finite period which does come to an end and the wheels of fortune turn again. The astrologer Arigotra leaves Saahas with hope for the future but also a reminder of the futility of his battle against Saade Saati –

‘Eight months of it have already passed. Less than seven years remain. Go away, my lord, and only return when the time turns auspicious.’ The dying man’s words smote Saahas with the finality of a hammer. They laid bare his helplessness, making him acutely conscious that the hopes he had cherished on his journey back to Aham were laughably puerile.’

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The right attitude is key to getting past this play of destiny

Acceptance and patience may help sufferers find value even in a bleak situation. The old priest of Yadoba offers some perspective to Saahas who is consumed with the idea that the period of Saade Saati is ‘fruitless’-

‘But if the soldier were to take a deep breath, calm down and contain his vital energy instead of wasting it by running from pillar to post, he will realize that the Saade Saati, far from being a curse, is a boon. It is the gods telling us to stop and reflect, to know ourselves, learn a new trade perhaps, spend time with the family, study the scriptures. Anything—read, play, evolve.’

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The learning is in the experience, not in despair

Whatever destiny may have in store for you, the period of Saade Saati can be a learning experience. As Destiny reveals the motive behind this game, a ray of sunshine pierces through clouds of bewilderment-

 ‘You see, I had always planned for Saahas to be king. The Saade Saati, the trials, the tribulations, I had gone to so much trouble to create obstacles for him. Just so he would become the king Aum deserved.’

With destiny rolling her dice at every turn, will Saahas emerge wise and fearless from the maze of the Saade Saati? Would the throne find its rightful heir?

Read Gitanjali Murari’s The Crown of the Seven Stars to find out!

Life, Loss and the Little Moments In-between: Stories for February

Posted on by Penguin India

From love and loss, to survival and trauma – fiction brings out the human condition like no other space in literature. We love snuggling up with a good fictional story; there are so many characters to meet. And we especially love how a good story can take us through such an incredible range of emotions. There is nothing like screaming at your book because a character won’t stop being stupid, or jumping on our bed (you did not hear this from us) when those two people you had been rooting for over 300 pages finally get together.

This February, we decided to take our reading passions a notch higher by celebrating the very singular experience reading fiction can give you. Our shelves this month is filled with as wide a range as the emotions these stories elicit. And we are giving you glimpses into just some of these worlds that we are stepping into.

It is time for #FictionFebruary, and we are (re)looking at some of the most poignant moments from our February stories that stayed with us long after we had turned the last page.

War, Memory, and Victimization

Chats with the Dead delve deep into the complexities and nuances of war and victimization. From all the voices from the afterlife we get to hear, this one really got us to stop for a moment.

 ‘If suicide bombers knew they end up in the same waiting room with all their victims, […] They may think twice.’

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Writing the Rainbow

Alongside the rich cast of characters we get to meet in her worlds, Namita Gokhale has also given us some inspiring female characters who make us think on what it means to be a woman today. Her latest, Jaipur Journals, is no different, where we meet Zoya Mankotia, a celebrated writer making waves with her latest novel. In a panel, she speaks about the safety and freedom in writing that allows us to be who we are:

‘We can be who we are, write as we like. Sexuality, as a narrative, is a freeflowing river.’

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Strength in Times of Trouble

 

Djinn Patrol is a powerful story of human warmth, resilience, and bravery that can emerge in times of trouble. We were hooked from the first page itself, with these lines:

‘When Mental was alive, he was a boss-man with eighteen or twenty children working for him, and he almost never raised his hand against any of them. Every week he gave them 5Stars to split between themselves, or packs of Gems, and he made them invisible to the police and the evangelist-types who wanted to salvage them from the streets, and the men who watched them with hungry eyes as the children hurtled down railway tracks, gathering up plastic water bottles before a train could ram into them.’

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On Grieving the Right Thing  

Sarojini’s Mother gives us a complex portrait of motherhood that goes well beyond just a biological concept. Sarojini confides in her friend Chiru about an abortion she went through because she was not ready to be a mother; and the confusing weight of grief that came with it:

‘Being right doesn’t take away the sadness, does it? I knew I’d lost again. I’d done to my baby what my mother had done to me. I’d kept the circle going. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t stop myself from grieving. That’s when I knew I had to come to Calcutta.’

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On Fighting the Sadness

We all try to deal with the weight of sadness in our day-to-day life. Seventeen-year-old Gehna’s words from Not All Those Who Wander on her simple but effective ways to fight her depression have definitely become our new strategy:

‘Wiser now, Gehna was no longer sure that she had any say in the comings and goings of the sadness, but she still held hope of ducking it. She had drawn strict boundaries, drip-feeding herself the pop songs about heartbreak and the tragic movies she loved, never exceeding a ratio of one part sad to nine parts happy.’

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Too Much of A Good Thing

In Soar, we loved the friendship between soldiers Bholanath and Khudabaksh during World War I. It hit us hard when they realized and discovered the power and potential of greed in a dream-nightmare sequence:

‘Invited guests waited patiently as the pair added item after item to their infinite plate. This went on for hours in the dream—the soldiers smelling the food, acquiring the food, but never enjoying it. Eventually they realized that the abundance would never end, that abundance only enlarged appetite. So the dream revealed itself as a nightmare; and, at the same instant, they sat up.’

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Moving On is Hard 

Love and loss are very complicated things, and one of the hardest to move on from. We felt Amal’s pain in The World Between Us as she struggled to move on from her husband, Haider and her love for him. Reaching the point where she took the decision to move on made for one of the most powerful moments in her story: 

‘It was true that I was still very much in love with Haider and his memories, but I was also beginning to realize that it was high time I moved on.

Life was so much more than a lifetime spent mourning and brooding on past memories.’

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Unspoken Love 

Family and home are two other things that can be beautiful and complicated all at once. One of the most powerful strands in Undertow is the simmering yet unspoken love between Loya and her estranged grandfather, Torun. Torun and his wife had thrown out Loya’s mother for marrying outside of her community. Twenty-five-year-old Loya returns to Torun and ends up reconnecting with him. This particular moment between the two of them carried exceptional emotional weight for us:

‘The girl then rose from her seat and came across to him.

She squatted and put her long arms across his shoulders. ‘I love you, I think, Koka.’

He watched her make her way back to her bedroom and drained the last of the amber liquid into his glass. He swallowed the last words, lest they escaped him.’

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On Battles and Bravery

The Crown of the Seven Stars give us a powerful character in the form of Saahas (which means “bravery” in English) as he refuses to submit to oppression and tyranny that has taken over his Kingdom. The lines below are some of the many that translate internal battles into very external fights.

‘A blade whirling in each hand, Saahas roared like a summer storm and Zankroor came at him, braids tangling around his head like a white cobweb. Striking hard with his curved axe, he broke Saahas’s iron blade in half, the impact jolting Saahas to the ground. Zankroor swung the axe again, squealing in glee, and Saahas lunged, stabbing the broken blade into his adversary’s thigh, just above the knee, his other arm moving with lightning speed. Zankroor grunted. His axe whistled downwards, eager to meet Saahas’s neck. ‘

These lines and these characters brought us just a little bit closer to ourselves, and to life in general. Emotions and desires are never easy to figure out, but stories like these definitely help a little.

Which one of these are you going to pick up this month? Do share with us in the comments below!

When fundamental rights became a roadblock for Nehru’s Congress

Posted on by Penguin India

The year was 1950. A feeling of euphoria was palpable as, after three years of deliberation, the Constitution of a newly independent India had come into effect. The Nehru-led Congress was ready to hit the ground running till their grand plans came to a screeching halt in the face of an expansively liberal Constitution that stood in the way of nearly every major socio-economic plan in the Congress party’s manifesto. With a judiciary vigorously upholding civil liberties and a press fiercely resisting his attempt to control public discourse, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru created the constitutional architecture for repression and coercion in the form of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

‘Four months after the Constitution’s inauguration, it was becoming increasingly clear that the champions of personal freedom had feet of clay, that beneath the surface of an ostensibly democratic leadership lurked deeply authoritarian instincts.’  writes Tripurdaman Singh as he revisits the Sixteen Stormy Days in 1951 when fundamental rights—the heart and soul of the Constitution- become lacunae in the same Constitution.

Read on to find out how fundamental rights caused grave difficulties for the government in power-

 

                             The right to fight indefinite detention

On 6 February 1950, 28 detainees filed a petition before the Bombay High Court challenging the validity of the Bombay Public Safety Measures Act on the basis of the new Constitution which, under Article 22, made indefinite and open-ended preventive detention, without an advisory board to approve detentions beyond a period of three months, unconstitutional. The unprepared government took the first hit.

‘The detainees were no longer subjects seeking the government’s leniency and clemency; they were free, rights-bearing citizens, newly empowered by the Constitution written in their name, with the ability to knock on the doors of the highest court of the land to demand the liberties guaranteed to them.’  

Front cover of Sixteen Stormy Days
Sixteen Stormy Days || Tripurdaman Singh
                               The furore over right to free speech

Barely three days after the twenty-eight communist detainees were freed by Bombay High Court another battle for Constitutional rights erupted in the Madras province when over 200 communist prisoners, demanding the status of political detainees rather than common criminals, went on strike. The violence that followed accelerated the downward spiral of the government and led to more strikes by other prisoners.

‘The enraged policemen retaliated by locking the 200-odd offenders in a hall with no means of escape and opening fire on them, killing twenty-two people in cold blood and injuring 107 others in a gruesome demonstration of the new republic’s lack of respect for the life and liberty of its citizens.’   

                                The blurred promise of land reform

Land reform had been a major part Congress agenda and Zamindari abolition and land redistribution promised to herald a new phase of equality for a new India. However, even before the constitution came into effect a legal battle began to erode the promise made by Congress. Suits filed by pre-eminent zamindars led the courts to examine the constitutional validity of the entire Management of Estates and Tenures Act.

‘Observing that the drastic and far-reaching restrictions placed on the power of the proprietors to deal with their property with no corresponding compensation left them practically without any rights over their own property, the court held the law to be void ab initio—both before and after the creation of the Constitution.

 The decision came as a bombshell, leaving the Bihar government and its Congress leaders shocked and rattled. The judgment reiterated the judiciary’s commitment to fundamental rights…’

                      The first legal challenge to the idea of reservation

Petitions filed against the discriminatory practice of reservation led courts to examine the issue of admissions being strictly regulated according to set communal proportions, instead of merit, which infringed upon fundamental rights. The violation of both Article 15 (1) of the Constitution of India, which protects citizens from discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth and Article 29 (2) formed the basis of the case. Noted lawyer Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyyar laid bare the glaring issues in the ‘Communal Government Order’ in court-

‘Aiyyar argued that the right granted by Article 29 (2) of the Constitution, which in unequivocal terms prevented any discrimination in the matter of admissions to state or state-aided institutions, was an individual right personally granted to each citizen. It could not be sidestepped by granting restricted community-based opportunities, it was not a right granted to people as members of a particular caste or religion.’

The essential foundations of the Constitution, which Sardar Patel called its ‘idealistic exuberance’, had now become a real, multifold problem for Nehru who, irked by constitutional restraints obstructing his political goals, eventually wrote to his chief ministers-

‘Recent judgments of some High Courts have made us think about our Constitution. Is it adequate in its present form to meet the situation we have to face? We must accept fully the judgments of our superior courts, but if they find that there is a lacuna in the Constitution, then we have to remedy that.’  

Thus began the story of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

 

Is Secularism a Colonial Concept?

Posted on by Penguin India

How did India aspire to become a secular country? Given our colonial past, we derive many of our laws and institutions from England. We have a parliamentary democracy with a Westminster model of government. Our courts routinely use catchphrases like ‘rule of law’ or ‘natural justice’, which have their roots in London.

In Republic of Religion, eminent scholar Abhinav Chandrachud presents well-researched reasons to argue that the secular structure of the colonial state in India was imposed by a colonial power.

Find an excerpt from his narrative that sets up this argument while exploring the nuances of secularism as a concept.

 

Though scholars disagree on the meaning of secularism, broadly speaking, two factors go into making a secular state: no religion should be established by law as the official state religion and all citizens should have the freedom to practise their own religious beliefs.7 Unlike the US, England has an established religion. If India derives so many of her laws and institutions from England, how is it that there is no established religion in India?

In the coming pages, we will see that secularism was artificially imposed by the British colonial government in India even though it did not fully exist in England. The law in England assumed only Christianity to be the one true religion, and Indian religions like Hinduism and Islam were considered to be ‘heathen’. Therefore, though England had an established religion—Christianity through the Church of England—it could not declare an Indian religion, like Hinduism or Islam, as the official religion of India. It could not force Christianity on India probably due to the fact that this would have made the colony ungovernable.8 Instead, it decided to separate religion and the state in India. Though government officials in England were entangled with the administration of churches there, colonial officials felt uncomfortable associating with ‘false’ Indian houses of worship like temples and mosques and therefore assigned them to the administration of Indian trustees.

British officials adopted a policy of secularism in India—in contrast to England—which will be referred to here as ‘colonial secularism’. Though ‘secularism’ is itself a relatively new9 word and one of imprecision,10 broadly speaking, colonial secularism in British India meant that the government did three things. Firstly, the colonial state would not endorse or get itself entangled in the administration of any local religions. So it disentangled itself from the management of temples—a function which was historically performed by Indian rulers—and handed temple administration over to trustees. This was despite the fact that a parallel nineteenthcentury campaign to disestablish the Church of England failed in the metropole.11 Further, before taking up office, public officials in India were made to solemnly swear or affirm their oaths, though they might have had no conscientious objection to swearing in the name of God, Vishnu or Allah. In other words, any mention of the word ‘God’ was removed from the oaths administered to public officials in India—an accommodation which was only available to Quakers and some others in England. Secondly, the colonial state provided heightened protection to religious minorities, often feeding into a sense of paranoia that they would be left helpless without its imperial

intervention. So the personal laws of different religious groups were, in theory,12 left alone,13 though England did not have a separate set of ‘personal’ laws for its religious minorities like Catholics and Jews. Adopting the old Roman strategy of retaining the laws of conquered territories in order to make them more easily governable, colonial officials decided against adopting a uniform civil code in family law matters. Cow slaughter, though reviled by much of India’s majority Hindu populace, was permitted to be carried out by Muslims during the festival of Bakr Id and Hindus who objected to it were considered ‘hypersensitive’. Seats on legislative bodies were filled by voters on the basis of separate electorates. Thirdly, the government tacitly, though nervously, encouraged Christian missionaries to preach Christianity and obtain converts though a Hindu or Muslim preacher who might have tried to do the same in England would have put himself at risk for criminal prosecution.

Secularism is one of the most celebrated ideals of a diverse India. Republic of Religion is a unique narrative presenting a never-before explored perspective and colonial ties that can potentially lie behind this term.

 

 

Did you know these facts about Guru Nanak?

Posted on by Penguin India

The continuing reality of the First Sikh hinges on his historical memory, and though memories return to the past, they are vital to the making of the future. The Sikh community continues to be shaped and strengthened by Guru Nanak’s memories.

We are celebrating some of them by revisiting these facts from his life that you may not have known:

His mother, Tripta, was a pious woman, and his father, Kalyan Chand, worked as an accountant for the local Muslim landlord.

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He was married to Sulakhni, and they had two sons, Sri Chand (b. 1494) and Lakhmi Das (b. 1497).

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In his own lifetime, he appointed a successor, who was followed by eight more, culminating with the Tenth Guru, Gobind Singh (1666–1708)

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The First Sikh’s compositions reveal his familiarity with the idioms and practices of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Yogis and Naths; importantly, they also relay his intention to reach out to a wide audience and relate closely with his diverse contemporaries.

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His parents named him after their older daughter, Nanaki. When he grew up he went to live with his sister, Nanaki, and her husband, Jairam, in Sultanpur Lodi, to work for a Muslim employer.

Front Cover of The First Sikh
The First Sikh || Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh

In The First Sikh, Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh weaves together the various sources of the story of Guru Nanak with true interdisciplinary finesse—reading the earliest sources with aesthetic, philosophical, historical and textual sensitivity and skill. But important as this work is to the history of Indian spiritual traditions, do not mistake The First Sikh for a mere historical reassessment.

Perks of Being a Daydreamer!

Posted on by Penguin India

Have you ever found yourself in worlds far away from the one in which you live? Well then, you and Daydreamer Dev have a lot in common.

The Absolutely True Adventures of Daydreamer Dev by Ken Spillman chronicles three of Dev’s fantastic adventures thought up by his colourful imagination. Dev’s flights of fancy land him in challenging environments all over the globe in iconic locations which challenge his skills and teach him about the vast world that awaits.

So you see, daydreaming can teach us a great many things about life! Here are some reasons why being a day dreamer is the best:

 

Anything is possible

In day dreams you are the writer of your story – anything is possible, no mountain is too high, no river too wide, no obstacle too big for you to face! Dev travels to the highest peak, the densest forest and the sandiest land in the world with no hesitation, and so can you – in day dreams or in your real life!

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It keeps the imagination alive

Dev’s day dreams of places and people he hasn’t ever seen keeps his colourful imagination in practice. It is only through imagination that some of the greatest discoveries of our world have come about! Day dreams keep the imagination and dreams alive so that one day we can turn these dreams to reality!

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Teaches you about the world

Like Dev’s fantasies about the faraway places, day dreams allow us to imagine different places, people and cultures that exist beyond our own worlds! The world is large and diverse and daydreams allow us to enter worlds we dream to be in.

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You are never bored

When you daydream, no task is too boring and no afternoon too long – whether you’re sitting on a Kwality Carpet like Dev or spending a lazy afternoon in a park, you won’t be bored for long with your imagination there to help you!

There’s no time for moaning and groaning about being bored when all you have to do is imagine a great new adventure for yourself – just like Dev!

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Daydreams give you hope and goals

The best part of daydreams is that they give you hope to make those dreams come true! They allow you to set goals for yourself, to imagine a world where you have achieved them, so you can achieve them in your own life!

Dev daydreams about winning a medal at the Olympics, swimming across oceans, flying solo around the world and maybe even crossing the Sahara. And one day he might do all these things in real life too!

So, the next time you hear parents or teachers complaining about your daydreaming ways, remind them that a world without day dreams would be far less exciting!

You can catch up with Dev in Ken Spillman’s The Absolutely True Adventures of Daydreamer Dev to join him in more fantastical adventures around the world.

Meet the Winged Angels And Beaked Devils from Stork-pur!

Posted on by Penguin India

On a tranquil moonlit night, the echoing silence of Rose Garden is broken only by the cooing voices of a pair of doves and the chatter of a white-headed squirrel. The shrill, talkative Lovey and the gentler, melodic Dovey are telling Shikar all about the daring escapade that brought the beloved squirrel into their lives. They speak of days of rip-roaring adventures when the doves, as scout birds on a mission, wreaked havoc with the plans of the villainous master of the ill-famed bird commune named Stork-pur.

Shikar listens breathlessly, hanging on to every word of the electrifying tale. As the saying went, ‘If it is a good story you want, it is to the Rose Garden you must fly.’!

Who were these spirited and compassionate birds that fought evil with courage and saved a baby squirrel from a horrid end?

Read on to meet the magnificent Rose Garden birds and their devilish foes – 

Kabul

In the bird world, skybirds like Kabul are the police who maintain law and order amongst birds. Kabul’s maternal instincts override her usually rational and sagacious approach when she sees the adorable little Shikar in mortal danger. Throwing caution to the wind, Kabul swoops in to protect Shikar-

 ‘She announced her presence with a battle screech. There was a blur of wings and we saw a bird hurl itself into the midst of the squirrels. The squirrels scattered, but they regrouped, as Kabul turned and faced them again. The squirrels chattered loudly. They huddled together, ready to take on the furious bird.’

Lovey and Dovey

Doves Lovey and Dovey were known to be utterly identical in their appearance, opinions and instincts. Determined to do justice to the mission entrusted to them, the like-minded doves prepare themselves to take on all danger-

‘Dovey glanced at me. ‘We’re not turning back, are we?’

I laughed. ‘Not a chance. Not even if the skies come crashing down on us. We are scouts. You remember what they taught us? The very first thing?’

 I turned to look at Dovey. He stared right back at me.

We both recited together: ‘You don’t need to be a hero to be a scout. But you sure need to be brave.’

Mike

Shrewd and nimble, Mike the shrike manages to take advantage of the only moment when Kabul lets her guard down in her super secret conversation with the doves. Armed with damaging information, Mike sets off to create trouble for the birds-

‘It has to be Mike. The shrike saw us with Kabul. It’s Mike who has passed on the information that we are scouts.’

I nodded. ‘Yes, it is Mike. I don’t see how the stork could possibly know otherwise. Mike is somehow involved—not just with this, but with Kabul’s disappearance too.’

Chorus

The only bird who could charm the master with the magic of his melodious songs, Chorus- The whistling thrush- enjoyed the special privilege of unrestricted access to the prison caves in Stork-pur. Creating illusions with his songs, Chorus offered moments of relief and joy to those trapped within the ugly reality of Stork-pur-

‘Chorus too had a job, he said. He was the commune singer. His job was to cheer the workers. No matter their rank, he would sing to them when they were down. Any bird at Stork-pur could ask him for a song. Even prisoners like us. He had sung for Kabul and would sing for us too if we desired so.’

The Master of Stork-pur

The evil creator of Stork-pur was the king bird who aspired to become the undisputed ruler of all birds.. With a halo of villainy surrounding his very presence, the master’s long, coiled black neck and cold, beady eyes could strike terror in the heart of the mightiest birds-

‘Yet, there was something about this stork. It wasn’t his ghastly looks that you noticed when you first saw him. What struck you instead was his bearing. There was this imperious emperor like air about him. It showed in the way the stork held his neck, in the casual swagger of his walk, and in the disdainful manner he brushed past the crouching ospreys.’

 With an injured Kabul in captivity and enemy birds hot on the heels of the exhausted doves, would Regal- The Golden Eagle- emerge from the shadow of legend and rumour to vanquish evil and restore peace and happiness to the bird world?

Step into the world of Stork-pur to find out!

Love is Friendship – An Excerpt from ‘Timeless Tales from Marwar’

Posted on by Penguin India

Indian folklore is a special gem in the crown of India’s history. Storytelling is an age old tradition, and Indian authors from all over the country have contributed heavily to their cultures through the writing and narrating of stories.

Known as the ‘Shakespeare of Rajasthan’, Vijayan Detha is one of India’s most renowned storytellers. In Timeless Tales from Marwar, Vishes Kothari translates his works for the wider enjoyment of Detha’s magical narrative style.

Read an excerpt of one of his stories titled ‘The Leaf and the Pebble’ below:

‘Because I was so completely unsuccessful with love, I

became very talented at writing love stories. Perhaps,

had I been successful, I would not have been so.’

—Bijji

 

Below a tree lay a pebble. All alone. Whom to talk to? Who to speak to? Lying there alone, he got suffocated. As fate would have it, one day, a leaf came there, flying from a distance. All of a sudden, the pebble found a chance to talk to someone. He was delighted. He accorded great honour and respect to the leaf who had come to his home.

One day, the pebble told the leaf, ‘My dear friend, please don’t go anywhere and leave me alone. I cannot even live a second without you now.’

‘Leave a friend like you and go?’ replied the leaf. ‘I’m not that big a fool! But if strong winds blow, how will I stay in one place? I will have to fly with the winds.’

The pebble thought hard and finally came up with a solution. ‘Don’t you worry about this! I won’t let you fly away even if the father of all storms passes through here. As soon as the winds blow, I will sit on you. Even if gusts of winds blow, I won’t let you be blown away with it. But friend,’ continued the pebble, ‘in front of the rain I am powerless . . . If it pours, I’ll melt.’

It was the leaf now who thought of a solution. ‘Don’t you worry about this! As soon as it rains, I will cover you. Even the father of rains won’t be able to melt you.’ And so, both friends thought of schemes to save each other. Many a storm blew, but the pebble did not let the leaf get blown away.

Many a time it rained, but the leaf did not let the stone melt.

But as fate would have it, one day, the storm and the rain came together. All the schemes that the two friends had devised to save each other proved futile. The pebble said, ‘I’ll save you.’ And the leaf said, ‘I’ll save you.’

Finally, the pebble spoke up again. ‘Silly, how can you save me? You’ll be blown away with the first gust of wind! And I’ll melt anyway. Now, let’s not bother with senseless quarrel. Let me sit on you.’

And so, the leaf had to let the pebble sit on it despite its wish. The pebble positioned itself properly on the leaf. The clouds began to thunder. Lightning began to flash. Large drops of rain began to fall. Gusts of wind began to blow. The pebble began to melt. Went on melting. Till he melted completely, he continued to protect his friend. As soon as the pebble melted completely, a gust of wind came and blew the leaf away.

Tears streaming from his eyes, the leaf bid farewell to his friend with a heavy heart.

Vijayan Detha’s stories are full of heart, soul and magic. They explore some of the most popular fables from one of India’s richest cultures. You can read more stories in his inimitable narrative style in Timeless Tales from Marwar.

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