Shetty
A Note on the Authors
Premendra Mitra (Bengali) Born in 1904 (d. 1988), he published several novels including Kuyasha, Panchashar, and Sagar Theke Phera, a collection of poems which received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1957. He was also a popular children’s writer.
Amrita Pritam (Punjabi) Born in 1919, she has published over seventy books, both novels and short stories. She received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1956 and was honoured with the Padma Shree in 1969. She was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986.
Bharati Mukherjee (English) Born in 1942, she has published several novels including Jasmine and The Holder of the World. Her collection of short stories, The Middleman and other Stories was the winner of the US National Book Critics Award, 1988.
Gangadhar Gadgil (Marathi) Born in 1923, he has published over fifty books which include novels, collections of short stories, travelogues, plays and children’s literature. His writing emphasizes urban complexities and psychological tensions.
U.R. Anantha Murthy (Kannada) Born in 1932, he has published several novels, short stories and plays, some of which have been made into award-winning films. His novels, Samskara and Ghatashraddha received awards in 1970 and 1978 respectively.
Gopinath Mohanty (Oriya) Born in 1914, he has published twenty-four novels and eight volumes of short stories. In 1955 he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel, Amrutura Santana, the Jnanpith Award in 1974 for Matimatal and was also honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1981.
R.K. Narayan (English) Born in 1906 (d. 2001), he was one of the most prolific and widely published authors of Indian English. Many of his novels and short stories are set in the fictional town of Malgudi in South India.
Raja Rao (English) Born in 1909, he has published five novels and two collections of short stories, among them the critically acclaimed Kanthapura. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961 for his novel, The Serpent and the Rope.
S. Mani ‘Mowni’ (Tamil) Born in 1907 (d. 1985), he published a novella and thirty short stories. He is regarded as one of the important contemporary Tamil writers. His story Transformation was translated into the French and published in Litteratures De L’ Inde.
Anita Desai (English) Born in 1937, she published her first novel, Cry the Peacock, in 1963. She received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977 for her novel, Fire on the Mountain. Her novels Clear Light of Day, In Custody and Fasting, Feasting have all been finalists for the Booker Prize.
Chunilal Madia (Gujarati) Born in 1922 (d. 1969), he published several novels, collections of short stories and plays. He began writing at an early age and is regarded as one of the foremost writers of his generation in Gujarati. He was a recipient of several awards from the Government of Bombay for his works of fiction and drama.
P.S. Rege (Marathi) Born in 1910 (d. 1981), he was best known as a poet and was one of the important figures in modern Marathi literature. He was the principal of Elphistone College, Bombay for several years and was also associated with the Institute of Advanced Study, Simla. His story in this collection was first published in 1962 and is one of the few works of fiction the author wrote.
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (Malayalam) Born in 1914 (d. 1999), he published some fifty novels and several collections of short stories. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1957 for his novel, Chemeen, the Vayalar Award in 1978 for Kayar and the Sovietland Nehru Award in 1975.
Ismat Chughtai (Urdu) Born in 1915 (d. 1991), she was a member of the Progressive Writers Movement in the 1940s and ’50s. Much of her work reflects the politics of the Left and her most powerful stories are satirical commentaries on the social norms of Muslim society in India.
O.V. Vijayan (Malayalam) Born in 1930, he has published in Malayalam, several novels, five collections of short stories and several books of political essays. Three of his novels, The Saga of Dharmapuri, The Legends of Khasak and The Infinity of Grace, as well as a collection of short stories, After the Hanging and Other Stories, have been translated into English.
Bhisham Sahni (Hindi) Born in 1915, he has published five novels, eight collections of short stories, three full-length plays and a biography of his brother, the actor and writer Balraj Sahni. He received the Distinguished Writer Award of the Punjab Government in 1974, the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Tamas in 1975, The Lotus Award of Afro Asian Writers’ Association in 1981, the Sovietland Nehru Award in 1983 and two awards from the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Samsthan.
Sunil Gangopadhyay (Bengali) Born in 1934, he has published several novels, short stories, poems, plays and scripts. His novels, Those days and First Light have been translated into English to popular and critical acclaim.
Avinash Dolas (Marathi) Born in 1950, he is the Head of Department of Marathi Language and Literature of the Milind College of Arts in Aurangabad. He has been actively involved in the Dalit movement and is the founding general secretary of the All India Dalit Natya Parishad.
Nirmal Verma (Hindi) Born in 1929, he has published several collections of short stories, essays, travelogues and novels including Ve Din and Parinde. He is regarded as one of the most respected writers associated with the Nai Kahani movement of the 1950s.
Devanuru Mahadeva (Kannada) Born in 1949, he has published a collection of short stories, Devanooru, and a long short story Odalaala, which was also made into a film. Several of his works have been translated into various languages.
Acknowledgements
Every effort has been made to ensure that permissions for all materials included in the book were obtained. In the event of any inadvertent omissions, the publishers should be notified and formal acknowledgements will be included in all future editions of this book. Special thanks and acknowledgements are given to:
Pritish Nandy for The Discovery of Telenapota by Premendra Mitra published in 1984 in The Illustrated Weekly of India. Translated by Pritish Nandy.
Amrita Pritam for her story The Weed published in 1978 in The Aerial and Other Stories, United Writers, Calcutta. Translated by Raj Gill.
Penguin Books Canada Ltd. for Nostalgia by Bharati Mukherjee published in Darkness.
Gangadhar Gadgil for his story The Dog that Ran in Circles published in 1961 in Modern Marathi Short Stories, Kutub Popular, Bombay.
U.R. Anantha Murthy for his story The Sky and the Cat published in 1980 in Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi, Vol. XXIII Nos. 3 & 4, New Delhi. Translated by D.A. Shankar.
Gopinath Mohanty for his story The Somersault published in 1979 in The Ant and Other Stories, United Writers, Calcutta. Translated by Sitakant Mahapatra.
The Estate of R.K. Narayan for his story Another Community published in 1985 in Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories, Viking.
Oxford University Press for Companions by Raja Rao published in 1978 in The Policeman and the Rose, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Jhayu Mani for A Loss of Identity by S. Mani ‘Mowni’ published in 1978 in Tamil Short Stories, Authors Guild of India, New Delhi. Translated by Albert Franklin.
William Heinemann Publishers for A Devoted Son by Anita Desai published in 1978 in Games at Twilight.
Jaico Publishing House for The Snake Charmer by Chunilal Madia published in 1982 in Selected Stories from Gujarat. Translated by Sarla Jag Mohan.
Manoj P. Rege for Savitri by P.S. Rege published in 1968 in Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. Translated by Kumud Mehta.
T.S. Pillai for his story A Blind Man’s Contentment published in 1976 in Malayalam Short Stories, Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Trichur. Translated by V. Abdulla.
The Sheep Meadow Press for Ismat Chughtai’s story The Wedding Shroud published in 1994 in The Quilt and Other Stories, The Sheep Meadow Press, New York. Translated by Tahira Naqvi.
O.V. Vijayan for his story The Wart.
Bhisham Sahni for his story We Have Arrived in Amritsar.
Sunil Gangopadhyay for his story Shah Jahan and His Private Army published in 1986 in Mahfil, The Journal of South Asian Literatur
e, Vol. XXI No. 1, Chicago. Translated by Phyllis Granoff.
Avinash Dolas for his story The Victim published in 1985 in Indian Literature Vol. XXVIII, No. 2, New Delhi. Translated by V.D. Katamble.
Nirmal Verma for his story Deliverance. Translated by Kuldip Singh.
Devanuru Mahadeva for his story Amasa. Translated by A.K. Ramanujan and Manu Shetty.
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The Penguin Book of Modern Indian Short Stories Page 31
