Ranjeet Desai

THE WHOLE WORLD IS AN OCEAN. EACH ONE OF US HOLDS A NET IN HIS HANDS, AND IT HAS TO BE CAST WHILE MAINTAINING ONES BALANCE ON THE UNDULATING WAVES. THE CAUTIOUS ONES DO NOT VENTURE MUCH BEYOND THE SHORE TO CAST THEIR NETS. WITH THE SHORE CONSTANTLY IN SIGHT, THEY ARE SATISFIED WITH THE SMALL FRY THEY ARE ABLE TO CATCH; BUT SOME OF US ARE MORE DARING. THEY DREAM BIG. THEY ENTER DEEPER WATERS, BRAVING AND FIGHTING THE STRONG WINDS. THEY STRIKE GOLD. ONE CANNOT SCALE THE PEAK OF WEALTH THROUGH STOLEN MONEY; RATHER IT IS THE CAUSE OF ONES DOWNFALL. PRAY, DO NOT RUN AFTER SUCH ILL-GOTTEN, DECADENT WEALTH. IT WILL DESTROY YOU COMPLETELY. THE SAD SAGA OF YOUTH GOING AFTER QUICK MONEY DHAN APURE.

YOUNG MILIND SETS OUT IN SEARCH OF SOMETHING. WHAT IS IT? HE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IS HE LOOKING FOR TILL HE COMES ACROSS IT. "PRATIKSHA IS A NOVEL BASED ON THE WAITING. "MILIND, EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING IS SCARED OF BEING INTROSPECTIVE. WE CAN LOOK AT THE SORROW IN OTHERS LIFE WITHOUT ANY CONCERN, WE CAN REMAIN ALOOF WHILE DOING SO, BUT WHEN WE ARE ASKED TO JUDGE OURSELVES, TO EXAMINE OUR FEELINGS, THEN WE ARE TREMENDOUSLY HURT. WE ARE AGONIZED BY OUR OWN SORROW. WE CAN VERY EASILY HURT OTHERS, BUT WE ARE EVER TENDER TOWARDS OURSELVES. WHY SO? JUST ONE REASON... WE HAVE NO FAITH IN OUR LIVES. ALL THESE YEARS WHEN WE LIVE, WE DO IT UNFAITHFULLY. EVERYTHING WE DO IS WITH ONE SOLE PURPOSE, TREMENDOUS SELFISHNESS. WE COME ALONE AND PASS ALONE, STILL THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES WE CONTINUOUSLY NEED COMPANY, THOUGH WE KNOW THAT NOTHING LASTS FOREVER WE COUNT ON COMPANY. WE SEARCH FOR IT. THOUGH LIFE IS TRANSIENT WE LOOK FOR EVERLASTING COMPANY TRYING TO KEEP US SAFE. YOU GAIN SOMETHING ONLY WHEN YOU OFFER SOMETHING. SOMETIMES, YOU HAVE TO OFFER YOURSELF TO FIND SOMETHING WHICH IS ETERNAL. UNLESS, THIS IS DONE YOU CANNOT FIND TRANQUILITY AND EACH ONE HAS TO FIND ON HIS OWN...

THE BARRE TRIBE HAD TRADITIONALLY LIVED IN THICK AND BEAUTIFUL JUNGLES. THEY RESORTED TO DACOIT AND THEFT IN NEARBY LOCALITIES FOR THEIR LIVING. THEY HARDLY EVER DREAMT OF STABLE LIFE. THE SOCIO-POLITICAL CHANGES AROUND AND FALLING OF FORESTS SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED THEIR LIFE STYLE AND INTRODUCED THEM TO NEW WAYS AND VALUES. BARE' RECOUNTS ALL THIS IN FORM OF A NOVEL. THE PICTURESQUE ENVIRONS, THE RUGGED LIFE-STYLE, THE PETTY FEUDS AND PLEASURES, THE NEW CHANGES ETC. HAVE BEEN POWERFULLY AND REALISTICALLY PRESENTED WITHOUT ANY ATTEMPT TO PASS ANY VALUE JUDGMENTS.

THIS NOVEL REALISTICALLY PRESENTS THE CURRENT PROBLEMS OF RURAL UNTOUCHABLES. ON ONE HAND ONE MEETS DEVA MAHAR- A RESPRESENTATIVE OF THE LAST GENERATION WHICH NATURALLY ACCEPTED AND SUFFERED THEIR DESPICABLE POSITION IN THE SOCIETY AND ON THE OTHER TUKAR.

MAHARASHTRA, THE STATE IN WESTERN INDIA, HAD BEEN UNDER THE RULE OF THE MUSLIMS SINCE THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. FOR ABOUT FOUR HUNDRED YEARS IT HAD TYRANNICAL AND INTOLERANT KINGS FROM OUTSIDE WHO NEVER ALLOWED THE LOCAL POPULATION TO LIVE IN PEACE. LOOT, EXPLOITATION IN THE NAME OF RELIGION, RAPE AND VIOLENCE WERE RAMPANT UNTIL CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ CHALLENGED THE RULERS AND SET UP A MARATHA EMPIRE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. HIS MISSION WAS NOT A CAKEWALK: HE HAD ENEMIES FROM WITHIN, OUTSIDE THE STATE AS WELL AS THOSE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES (THE PORTUGUESE AND THE BRITISH HAD MADE THEIR PRESENT FELT BY THEN.) LOYALTY OF HIS FOLLOWERS WAS ONE MAJOR FACTOR THAT HELPED CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ BUILD AN EMPIRE WHICH WAS HELD IN AWE. PAVANKHIND IS A HISTORICAL NOVEL THAT COVERS THE EVENTS LEADING TO THE WAR OF PAVANKHIND. (PAVANKHIND IS A PASS NEAR KOLHAPUR.) THE KING SUCCESSFULLY MADE HIS WAY THROUGH A SIEGE OF THE PASS; THANKS TO BAJI PRABHU DESHPANDE WHO MADE THE BREAK THROUGH POSSIBLE.

THIS IS AGAIN A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES. WHAT IS HISTORY? IT IS THE CHAIN OF SUCH EVENTS IN THE PAST WHICH ARE DEEPLY ENGRAVED ON OUR MINDS. OFTEN, SOME MOMENTS, SOME INCIDENCES ARE IMPRINTED ON OUR MIND AND VERY FEW OF SUCH INCIDENCES HAVE THE STRENGTH TO REMIND US OF THE SORROW, OF THE IMMENSE PAIN. THIS COLLECTION IS OF SUCH TENDER MOMENTS, OF THOSE MEMORIES WHICH WE THINK WE HAVE FORGETTEN, BUT NOW WHEN REVEALED STILL POSSESS THE SAME VIGOUR TO TOUCH US; UNMISTAKABLY BY RANJIT DESAI, A WRITER WITH MUCH UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORDS AND THE LITERATURE....जे घडून गेलं; पण मनामनावर कोरलं गेलं त्याचा 'इतिहास' होतो. अनेक क्षण, प्रसंग काळावर आपले ठसे उमटवून गेले. काही चाहूल न लागताही आपले अवशेष मागे ठेवून गेले. काही प्रसंगाचे ओरखडे मात्र आज आठवणीनंही जखम ओली करतात. अशाच फार फार जुन्या आठवणींचा हळूवार पडदा बाजूला सारत, त्या क्षणांचा अनुभव ताजा करणारा, बोलीभाषेचा बाज घेऊन रणजित देसाई यांच्यासारख्या सिद्धहस्त लेखकाचा अक्षरसाज लेवून आलेला कथाविष्कार...

SANKET IS YET ANOTHER COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES BY RANJIT DESAI. THE STORIES ASSEMBLED IN THIS BOOK WERE PUBLISHED EARLIER UNDER ANOTHER TITLE. IN THE LATER YEARS, HOWEVER, THEY WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE READERS.IN ALL, THERE ARE 12 STORIES IN THIS BOOK. EACH STORY HIGHLIGHTS A PECULIAR FEATURE OF THE RURALITES. ONE MIGHT THINK THAT THESE RURALITES ARE VERY INNOCENT, THEY ARE VERY CUNNING, VERY SELFISH, VERY HELPING, VERY... THEY ARE NOT JUST ONE QUALITY OR OTHER. THEY ARE A MIXTURE OF QUALITIES. AS AND WHEN REQUIRED THE HIDDEN EMOTIONS, HIDDEN QUALITIES COME TO THE SURFACE REVEALING THE TRUE NATURE OF THE BEARER. SOMETIMES, THEIR INNOCENCE IS TESTED AND SOMETIMES THEIR CUNNINGNESS. BUT STILL THE WILL TO LIVE IS THE BASIC NATURE BEHIND EVERY LIVING THING AND THAT REFLECTS WELL IN THE LIVES OF ALL THESE FARMERS AND PEASANTS. THE AUTHOR HAS CHARACTRISED ANIMALS AS WELL WHICH HAVE A VERY NOBLE PLACE IN ALL THE RURALITIES MINDS. HE DESCRIBES THIS NOBLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANIMALS AND HUMAN BEING VERY WELL.

WE ALL KNOW RANJIT DESAI AS A VERSATILE WRITER HE GOT HIS NAME AND FAME BECAUSE OF THE NOVELS, STILL HE STARTED HIS CAREER AS A WRITER WITH SHORT STORIES. DURING THE EARLY YEARS, HE MAINLY FOCUSED ON THE RURAL LIFE AND THE REALITIES THEREIN. LATER ON, HE TRIED TO WALK ON THE PATH OF HISTORY GIVING US WONDROUS STORIES WITH MAJESTIC ENVIRONMENT. HE SKETCHED PICTURES OF WELL KNOWN PERSONALITIES IN THE FIELD OF MUSIC AND ART. LATER ON, HE SWITCHED OVER TO STORIES WITH MORE STRESS ON NATURE, STARS ETC. MORPANKHI SAWALYA IS A COLLECTION OF 15 STORIES OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS, USED TO THE NATURE. THE PECULIARITY OF THESE STORIES IS THOUGH THEY ARE WRITTEN BY A HUMAN NOT EVEN A SINGLE HUMAN BEING COMES INTO OUR SIGHT THROUGHOUT AFTER GOING THROUGH THE WONDERFUL NATURE PICTURED BY RANJIT DESAI, WE WILL ONCE AGAIN REALISE HIS GREATNESS.

A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES ONCE AGAIN, BUT BASED ON THE URBAN LIFE. THEY ARE UNIQUE. THEY MAKE YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE. THEY EXPOSE THE URBAN LIFE WITH ITS DRAMA, WITH ITS UNIQUE MOMENTS, THE STRICTNESS, THE HARSHNESS, OF A CITY, THE RUDE, ROUGH ATTITUDE OF PEOPLE ABOUT. THE READER STARTS READING EACH STORY WITH TREMENDOUS EAGERNESS AND GETS TOTALLY ABSORBED IN IT, CONSIDERING HIMSELF TO BE A PART OF THE STORY. EACH STORY MAKES US THINK OF MANKIND AT THE END....देसाईंच्या कथा खर्]या अर्थानं फुलल्या त्या ऐतिहासिक वातावरणात व अस्सल ग्रामीण ढंगात, परंतु सूक्ष्म निरिक्षणशक्ती आणि अत्यंत संवेदनशील मन यामुळं त्यांना शहरी जीवनातील मर्मभेदी सत्य दर्शनानं अस्वस्थ केलं. यातूनच "प्रपात' च्या कथांचा जन्म झाला. देसाईंच्या नेहमीच्या कथांपेक्षा या कथा वेगळ्या आहेत. जीवनातील विशिष्ट क्षणांविषयी, नाट्याविषयी, शहरीजीवनात हरघडी अनुभवायला येणार्]या कठोर, रूक्ष क्षणांविषयी विचार करायला लावणार्]या आहेत. या कथा अभिजात, संतुलित रूपात्मक जाणिवेच्या आहेत. "स्पर्श' या कथेत नोकरी करणार्]या शहरातील स्त्रीला ज्या बिभित्स नजरा, ओंगळवाणे स्पर्श व त्याच त्या किळसवाण्या भावनांच्या प्रवाहातून दररोज जावे लागते, यामुळं तिच्या मनावर उठणार्]या ओरखड्यांचे चित्रण आहे. तर "मृद्]]गंध' मध्ये एका वारांगनेच्या मनाची हळूवार ओळख आहे. कथा जसजशी वाचत जावी तसतसा वाचक त्यात गुंतत जातो आणि कथेचा शेवट त्या विचारांना चालना देतो.

THIS IS A COLLECTION OF 18 OF DESAI S SHORT STORIES. THE STORIES WERE PUBLISHED EARLIER. BUT MEHTA CATEGORISED THE STORIES SUBJECTWISE AND PUBLISHED THEM UNDER THE HEADING OF ASHADH IN JAN. 1989. THESE STORIES HAVE A RURAL BACKGROUND. THE LANGUAGE IS USED VERY APPROPRIATELY. IT TAKES US TO THE VILLAGE LIFE IMMEDIATELY. EACH STORY HAS A DIFFERENT STORY TO TELL. THEY ALL REVEAL DIFFERENT MOODS, DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF HUMAN MIND. THIS HUMAN MIND IS SOMETIMES VERY SOFT, SOMETIMES DIFFICULT, YET SOMETIMES IT HANDLES THINGS DELICATELY. THE MORE YOU READ THE MORE DIFFICULT IT BECOMES TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF VILLAGE PEOPLE. WHEN YOU FEEL THAT THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT EACH OTHER THEY STOOD TO BE DIFFERENT, WHEN YOU FEEL THAT THEY HARDLY BOTHER ABOUT ANYONE ELSE, THEY REVEAL THE SOFTEST CORNER OF THEIR MIND. THEY REVEAL THE SIMPLICITY, THEY UNMASK DIPLOMACY OF UNIMAGINED TURNS, THEY BETRAY US, THEY CONFIDE IN US.

RANJIT DESAI S SHORT STORIES ARE DIFFERENT THAN OTHER SHORT STORIES. THEY ALWAYS TAKE PLACE IN WONDROUS SITUATIONS, ALMOST HAVE AN ENVIRONMENT AS IF IN A FAIRY TALE. THEY ARE NOT RESTRAINED TO MAHARASHTRA. THEY HAVE A VAST BACKGROUND, THAT OF WHOLE INDIA. THIS AUTHOR LITERALLY LIVES THE LINE, "INDIA IS MY COUNTRY . THE STORIES ARE MORE HISTORICAL THAN REALISTIC. MUSIC AND ROMANCE ARE THE INEVITABLE FACTORS OF THE STORIES. THE CHARACTERS ARE ROMANTIC AND LOVE TO BE IN THEIR OWN WORLD, ALWAYS LOST IN THE DREAMY ENVIRONMENT. FOR THEM, NOTHING VALUES MORE THAN LOVE AND ART, NOT EVEN THEIR LIFE. THE FEMALE CHARACTERS WHICH MEET US THROUGH HIS STORIES ARE ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL, PETITE, FRAGILE, WILLING TO SACRIFICE FOR LOVE WITHOUT ANY HESITATION IN THEIR MINDS. HE HAS ALWAYS PENNED THEM DOWN VERY DELICATELY, WHATEER THEIR OCCUPATION IS, BE IT A SINGER, A DANCER, A PROSTITUTE OR A HOUSEWIFE. HE HAS ALWAYS BEING CONSIDERATE OF THE DELICATE FEMALE MIND. HIS STORIES TAKE US TO PLACES FAR AWAY, MAKE US FORGET THE REAL WORLD. THE BACKGROUND IS EQUALLY COLOURFUL WITH ALL THE DETAILS PENNED DOWN MINUTELY. THIS SHOWS HIS OBSERVATION SKILLS. THOUGH HIS STORIES TEND TO BE MORE ON THE WONDEROUS SIDE, THE CHARACTERS ARE TYPICAL HUMAN BEINGS. HE HAS SKETCHED THEM VERY REALISTICALLY SO MUCH THAT WE AUTOMATICALLY AND UNKNOWINGLY GET INVOLVED, LAUGHING WITH THEIR HAPPINESS AND CRYING WITH THEIR SORROWS.PRALHAD KESHAV ATRE

THE LETTER 'SHREE' IN DEVANAGARI SCRIPT IS FULL OF CURVES. IT REPRESENTS GODLINESS, EXCELLENCE. ONE WHO STRIVES FOR IT HAS TO GO ALONG SUCH A CURVILINEAR PATH. BUT ALAS, THESE DAYS THE 'SHREE' IS REMEMBERED ONLY FOR THE COMPLEX CURVES; NOT FOR THE STRENGTH THAT IT REPRESENTS. THE RIVER FLOWS ALONG A MEANDERING PATH. BUT THIS BRINGS PROSPERITY TO THE SURROUNDING LANDS. THE MOUNTAINOUS ROADS TOO TAKE TWISTS AND TURNS THROUGH VALLEYS AND HILLS. THAT IS WHY MEN CAN CROSS MOUNTAINS OF DIFFICULTIES WITH EASE. TODAY PEOPLE ARE EMBRACING ONLY THE TWISTS AND TURNS AND NEGLECTING THE POWER OF 'SHREE' WORDS LIKE 'HARD WORK' AND 'SERVICE' GET ONLY LIP SERVICE. 'SACRIFICE' GETS TRAMPLED BENEATH THE HEELS OF POWER. WHERE WILL THIS DETERIORATION IN HUMAN VALUES FINALLY LEAD MANKIND?...'श्री' मिळवायची झाली, तर वेडीवाकडी वळणं घेतल्याखेरीज ती हाती येत नाही. पण आज 'श्री'चं वेडंवाकडं वळण तेवढंच लक्षात ठेवलं जातं. 'श्री'च्या वळणातलं सामथ्र्य नेमकं विसरलं जातं. वेडीवाकडी वळणं घेतच नदी जाते. पण तिची वळणं भूभाग अधिक समृद्ध करायला कारणीभूत ठरतात. वेडीवाकडी वळणं घेत दयाखोयांचा रस्ता जातो. म्हणूनच माणसाला सहजतेनं संकटांचे डोेंगर तरता येतात. आज 'श्री'चं नेमकं सामथ्र्य हरवून वेडीवाकडी वळणं तेवढीच कवटाळली जातात कष्ट, सेवा हे शब्द फक्त उच्चारण्यापुरते उरलेत. सामथ्र्याच्या पायाखाली 'त्याग' चिरडला जात आहे. जीवनमूल्यांचा हा हास माणसाला कुठवर पोहोचवणार आहे ?

PAPAJI, AN ARCHITECT DRAWS THE PLANS OF A HOUSE, AND THE CONTRACTOR CONSTRUCTS IT. BUT WHO STAYS IN IT? WHEN THE CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETED, THE RUBBLE, LEFT-OVER CEMENT, BRICKS, AND MORTAR ARE DISCARDED. THE CONTRACTOR DOES NOT DWELL THERE. ONLY THE ONE WHO HAS THE DESIRE TO MAINTAIN THE 'HOMELINESS' OF THE PLACE DOES. ALL YOUR LIFE YOU PURSUED THE DREAM OF INDEPENDENCE, BUT YOU NEVER REALISED THAT YOU DID NOT POSSESS THE CAPACITY TO NURTURE THE NEWLY-INDEPENDENT COUNTRY. THE DREAM WAS DEFINITELY THERE. BUT YOU HAD NEITHER THE VISION, NOR THE STRENGTH TO GIVE SHAPE TO THIS DREAM... "...WHO IS ENJOYING THE FRUITS OF THIS INDEPENDENCE OVER THE YEARS? ONLY THE LOOTERS, THE SELFISH, AND THE CHARLATANS..." THIS PLAY IS A CANDID CRITIQUE OF THE POLITICS OF POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIA.

MANY MARATHI AUTHORS WRITE SHORT STORIES, LONG STORIES BUT RANJIT DESAI HAS ADOPTED A VERY UNIQUE STYLE. HIS STORY BLENDS HARMONIOUSLY WITH THE MAGNIFICENT BACKGROUND. IT IS ALWAYS COLOURED IN BEAUTIFUL SHADES OF BLUE, GIVING EVERYTHING A DREAMY TOUCH.

THIS IS A COLLECTION OF 10 STORIES. MOST OF THE STORIES ARE RELATED WITH LOVE. LOVE HAS DIFFERENT MEASURES. LOVE HAS VARIOUS ASPECTS. BUT LOVE IS LOVE. WHAT IS LOVE? CARING, SHARING, RESPECTING, SACRIFICING AND LOVING. HUSBANDWIFE, LOVER, TEACHERSTUDENTS, PARENTCHILDREN, COURTESANCUSTOMER, THE FATHOM OF EACH RELATION IS DIFFERENT. ALL THE 10 STORIES REFLECT DIFFERENT TYPES OF LOVE, EACH ONE UNIQUE IN ITS OWN WAY. EACH CHARACTER IS DESCRIBED IN SUCH A LIVELY WAY THAT WE SEE THE CHARACTER IN FRONT OF OUR EYES, WE LIVE WITH THEM. THE LAST STORY IS "AKHEREND BASED ON SWATANTRYAVEER SAWARKAR AND HIS GREAT PATRIOTISM.

THIS NOVEL PRESENTS THE VILLAGE LIFE AS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE FAMILIAR FACETS OF VILLAGE LIFE LIKE THE FAMILY FEUDS, ASSASSINATIONS ETC. ARE CERTAINLY TRIBES OF MEN WHO CHERISHED VALUES MORE THAN THEIR OWN LIVES AND DEVOTEDLY WORKED FOR THE GOOD OF THEIR VILLAGES AS A WHOLE. THE SETTING AND THE CHARACTERS ARE RATHER CONVENTIONAL BUT THE AUTHOR IS SUCCESSFUL IN CREATING POWERFUL AND CONVINCING CHARACTERS RENDERING SITUATION UNREAL AND LIFE AND MAKING THE READER FEEL THE VINTAGE AROMA OF THE VILLAGE LIFE OF YESTER YEARS.

SUCH IS THE NATURE OF A LEGACY, SUBHANA... A LEGACY IS GOD-GIVEN. IT THRIVES ON SACRIFICE. OTHERWISE, KAIKEYI WOULD NOT HAVE ASKED FOR THAT BOON. LORD RAMACHANDRA WOULD NOT HAVE GONE INTO EXILE. RAVANA WOULD NOT HAVE KIDNAPPED SITA. AND KING DASHARATHA WOULD NOT HAVE DIED PINING FOR HIS SON. ALL THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF THE LEGACY OF THE TRUTH-LOVING RAGHUKUL DYNASTY... ONE HAS TO SUFFER. THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM IT. TO EACH HIS OWN. SOMEBODY MAYBE LIKE RAMA FOR WHOM A VOW WAS SACROSANCT. SOMEBODY MAY BE DEVOTED TO BROTHERLY LOVE, LIKE LAKSHMAN, OR BHARAT. AND IT IS SOMEBODY'S LOT TO BE THE TRAGIC SITA. A PLAY THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF LEGACY.

RANJIT DESAI WAS A MULTIDIMENSIONAL WRITER. "VAISHAKH INCLUDES THE STORIES DURING THE PERIOD OF HIS APPRENTICESHIP. YET EACH STORY HAS THE STRENGTH TO TOUCH THE INNERMOST CORD OF A SENSITIVE HEART. IT IS BASED ON RURAL LIFE. VAISHAKH LITERALLY MEANS SUMMER. THE HEAT IS IMMENSE THEN. IT BURNS YOU. THE STORIES ALSO HAVE THE CAPACITY TO BURN YOUR MIND. THESE ARE ALL FORMS OF CREATIVE LITERATURE, EACH GIVING LOT OF THOUGHTS. ONE CANNOT FAIL TO NOTICE THE AUTHORS CALLIBRE FROM THESE STORIES.

A PLAY BASED ON RANJEET DESAI S LITERARY MASTER PIECE SWAMI .