Book Review: Laghukatha Saptak - II

 

If you have been wanting to start reading Hindi, this is the perfect kind of book. It has short stories that range from half page to two pages.

But don't be fooled by the word count. Each story manages to do its job - make the reader feel, think, or both.

The book is a compilation of short stories written by Suryakant Nagar, Bhagirath, Dr. Satishraj Pushkarna, Shyamsundar Agrawal, Dr. Ramnivas 'Maanav', Dr. Kamal Chopra, and Sukesh Sahni.

11 stories of each author have been selected, making this a compendium of 77 stories in a very compact 134 pages.

The language is easy and the writing flows. You wont experience it as a compilation because there is no jarring difference between the styles of individual authors. One doesn't get the sense of reading Christie and Thomas Hardy in the same book. And for that, the editor, Dr. Ramkumar Ghotad, deserves credit.

The stories span pretty much the entire spectrum of human conditions and emotions. From love in an elderly couple to crime in a village, it is all there.

The book is not available in print, afaik.
Friends can borrow my copy though, or you could try the publishers - Sahityagaar (Jaipur).

Happy Fathers' Day

लोगों को जीवन में 

पहले 

पिता मिलते हैं 

और फिर वे  पिता बनते हैं 

कुछ लोगों को 

नहीं मिलते पिता 

वे सीधा 

पिता बनते हैं 

ज़्यादातर लोगों को 

जो पिता मिलते हैं 

वो पिता 

वे बन नहीं सकते 

पिता बन जाने 

का  

लंबा रास्ता है 

कोई नक्शा नहीं होता। 

Most people

first get a father 

before becoming one. 

Sometimes 

you don't get a father

You just have to 

become one 

when the time comes. 

Usually 

the father we get 

is not the father 

we are allowed (or want) to become.

Fatherhood 

is a long road 

No maps available. 

Happy Fathers' Day 

Today's notes from meditation

You came into the world to create love as a base for all human interactions. To make the experience of this love more broad based, not just as a part of a spiritual experience. That is why, in this birth, you will not go into teaching of any kind. That is the anti path to the one you chose. 

The reason it did not succeed is this: Just as the Earth's environment is not one gas, but a mixture of many gases, the spiritual environment also is a mixture of multiple human emotions. In Kaliyuga, the negative emotions dominate, just like nitrogen dominates the Earth's atmosphere. It is through the अति of negative emotions that an appreciation for Satya Yuga emerges. The appreciation and clamour for Satya Yuga has to precede the coming of the Yuga itself. 

What you did was not ineffective. The 3% gas of love has to come from some sources, and you were one of the sources. Your hypothesis was bound to fail, but the spirit - of wanting to change the world - that will not fair. None of us is powerful enough to change the whole world. But we are all powerful enough to change the parts around us. 

******** 

A age gap is the earthly version of the spiritual distance between two people. It is the most stark earthly reminder that there is a gap and it needs to be patched. Whether to patch it or let it go, is an individual decision. The spiritual path is not an escalator. One can always come back to meet a friend who is left behind. But that turning back does not always have a positive outcome and in this case, it very likely wont, bcs the importance of the gap needs to be acknowledged AND the decision to patch it must be made. In other words, the said friend must call us to turn back and help. 

*********** 

The word of the day is उत्थान। Not for you to think of someone's salvation, but for you to think of the concept of उत्थान. Like several thinkers have already pointed out, there is no Utopia. But the idea of Utopia is as necessary for human existence as its absolute physical absence. 

******** 

 

Today clarified a lot of concepts that i was struggling with. 

Bachpan - II

बचपन में 

हर बच्चा बनाता तो है

उगता सूरज 

एक नदी, दो पहाड़, एक रास्ता 

एक पेड़ 

एक घर 

पर बचपन में 

हर बच्चा पाता नहीं है

उगता सूरज, 

नदी, पहाड़, रास्ता, 

पेड़ 

और कभी-कभी 

घर 

Reference to Context: 

The first painting of every child 

include 

a rising sun 

mountains 

a river 

a path 

a tree 

and a house 

But the first years of every child 

do not always include 

a rising sun 

mountains 

a river 

a path 

a tree 

or sometimes 

even a house. 

Book Review: A Song of Comfortable Chairs by Alexander McCall Smith

 

We always pick up an Alexander McCall Smith book. Because he writes great stories, he creates well-etched characters, and he states deep truths - simply. 

I think of him more as an author that belongs in the simplicity of my childhood - upholding the value of human connection and kindness - things we valued as children but lost as adults. 

BUT... Alexander McCall Smith writes short stories far better than he writes novels. Maybe it is my reduced attention span. But i prefer the format where each story solved a mystery and Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi solved them together, with help from Charlie. This time, the mystery is loooong drawn out, intertwined with another, rather unrelated mystery, and honestly, they are more family/business problems than mysteries. 

At 230 pages (and large print) the book is a languid, easy read. If you are looking for an action packed adventure, this is not it. This book is a soap opera on paper - where the lives of the characters walk in and out of the frame, and things happen to and through them. If you want to lose yourself in the lives of other people for a while, this one is perfect.

Chaand

मुझे रख लो काम पर 

तुम्हें लतीफ़े सुना कर 

खूब हँसाया करूंगा 

और तुम बदले में मुझे 

अपनी छत से 

चाँद ताकने देना 

Let me come work for you 

My job 

will be to make you laugh

till your sides hurt 

And your payment 

is to let me see the moon 

from your rooftop. 

हक

हर बचपन में होनी चाहिए 

एक नदी 

या पोखर 

या पहाड़ 

और इन में से कुछ भी न हो सके तो 

कम-अस-कम 

एक बड़ा सा 

पेड़/  

क्यूंकि

बचपन की यादें 

जब maypole के रंग बिरंगे रिबनों सी 

स्मृति की हवा में 

लहलहाती है 

तब 

उन्हें आवश्यकता होती है 

एक स्तम्भ की 

जिस से 

उन सब का स्थायित्व 

महसूस किया जा सके 

हर बचपन में होनी चाहिए 

ऐसी नदी 

पोखर 

पहाड़ 

या फिर 

कम-अस-कम 

एक बड़ा सा पेड़। 

********* 

Every childhood deserves 

a river 

or a lake 

or a mountain 

or at least 

a really big tree. 

When

childhood memories 

flutter  

like Maypole ribbons 

(colourful, but chaotic) 

That is when 

they need 

the pole 

to peg themselves 

in the real-ness 

of the physical world.

That is why 

every childhood deserves 

a river 

a lake 

a mountain 

or at least 

a really big tree.

*****

I am most certainly regressing.

But I had a really amusing encounter today and since this blog is my memory box of small things, where else would one post such a sweet little thing? 

Remember when we were younger and boys would do different things to get our co-ordinates? (Email id, phone no., linkedin, facebook. etc.?) I used to find that so cute - the confusion, the hesitation, the attempt, the gentle smile, etc? 

So, today, i was in a flight. A morning flight. Which means i had not slept well. Which means i was not feeling well. So I had only one agenda in that flight - to sleep. As soon as take off happened, I closed my eyes rather involuntarily.

Sometime during the flight, the person in the next seat and i got talking. I cant remember how. He was just coming from a trip and i was going to one. We spoke about a lot of things - his business, my work, the kind of holidays we like, good places to visit solo, etc. 

Towards the end of the flight, he just turned to me and asked, "Are you on insta? What's your id?" 

And that, dear reader, has not happened to me in a loooong time. 

:) 

उदास आदमी

उदास आदमी 

ज़्यादा से ज़्यादा क्या कर सकता है? 

फांसी लगा सकता है 

कोने में लाश की तरह पड़ा रह सकता है 

एक बंद कमरे में आलसी का तमगा लटका कर लेट सकता है 

उदास आदमी 

अंतत: 

उदास होने से ज़्यादा 

कुछ नहीं कर सकता। 

******