The twenty-five stories in The Greatest Hindi Stories Ever Told represent the finest short fiction in Hindi literature. Selected and translated by editor, writer, and translator Poonam Saxena, and ranging from early literary masters of the form such as Premchand, Chandradhar Sharma Guleri, BhishamSahni, HarishankarParsai, Mannu Bhandari, and Shivani to contemporary greats such as AsgharWajahat, Uday Prakash, Sara Rai, and others, the collection has stories of darkness, hope, triumph, anger, and irony.
In Premchand’s ‘The Thakur’s Well’, ‘low-caste’ Gangi struggles to find drinking water for her ill husband; in ‘The Times Have Changed’ by Krishna Sobti, the matriarch Shahni bids a heart-breaking farewell to her village during Partition; Krishna BaldevVaid’s ‘Escape’ is a telling story about women’s yearning for freedom; Yashpal’s ‘Phoolo’s Kurta’ is a sharp commentary on child marriage and notions of female modesty; in BhishamSahni’s ‘A Feast for the Boss’ and Usha Priyamvada’s ‘The Homecoming’, ageing parents find themselves tragically out of sync with their family; Amarkant’s ‘City of Death’ looks at the fragile thread that holds together communal peace; PhanishwarnathRenu’s ‘The Third Vow’ features the lovable bullock-cart driver Hiraman; Bhagwaticharan Varma’s ‘Atonement’ and HarishankarParsai’s ‘The Soul of Bholaram’ are scathing satires; and ‘Tirich’ by contemporary writer Uday Prakash is a surreal tale—these and other stories in the collection are compelling, evocative, and showcase an unforgettable range of brilliant styles, forms, and themes.
Chandradhar Sharma Guleri
Premchand
Bhagwaticharan Verma
Yashpal
Agyeya
BhishamSahni
PhanishwarnathRenu
HarishankarParsai
Amarkant
Krishna Sobti
Krishna BaldevVaid
Rajendra Yadav
Mohan Rakesh
Kamleshwar
Usha Priyamvada
Mannu Bhandari
Kamtanath
Shivani
Doodhnath Singh
Omprakash Valmiki
Shaani
Shekhar Joshi
AsgharWajahat
Uday Prakash
Sara Rai
About the Author - POONAM SAXENA is a journalist, writer, and translator. She worked with the Hindustan Times for several years, first as editor of Brunch and then of the weekend section. She has translated DharamvirBharati’sGunahonkaDevtafrom Hindi to English (Chander&Sudha), RahiMasoom Raza’s Scene: 75, and co-authored filmmaker Karan Johar’s memoir, An Unsuitable Boy.
She lives in Delhi.
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