The Mark of Vishnu: Stories

by Khushwant Singh

Khushwant Singh first established his reputation as a writer through the short story. This selection includes ten of his best, bearing testimony to the author's remarkable range and his ability to create unforgettable characters out of everyday lives.

Genres: Short Stories, India, Indian Literature

154 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Khushwant Singh, (Punjabi: ਖ਼ੁਸ਼ਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ, Hindi: खुशवंत सिंह) born on 2 February 1915 in Hadali, Undivided India, (now a part of Pakistan), was a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, was among the most widely-read columns in the country.

An important post-colonial novelist writing in English, Singh is best known for his trenchant secularism, his humor, and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit.

Reviews

[Avinash Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Khushwant Singh is truly the king of Indian Short Story circuit. He paints his characters so well that you can visualize them as you read them. You can relate to these characters because they are like everyday people we meet. The insecurities, the habits, the thought-process, the disgusts and the shames are relatable to folks from urban Indian society. Like the story of “The Bottom Pincher” where the perfectly rich and suffice Parsi gentleman has an illicit habit of grabbing bottoms of strange women in the street. He takes these guilty pleasures so swiftly and smoothly that he is never questioned or suspected. Its not only the human characters that Khushwant expertises in. He even takes care of the point of views of stray dogs and holy king cobras.

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[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

Posthumous
Karma --3
Mark Of Vishnu --2
The Butterfly
The Interview
*The Portrait of a Lady
The Voice of God
A Punjab Pastorale
Kusum
The Riot
The Rape
The Memsahib of Mandla
The Great Difference
When Sikh Meets Sikh
Death Comes to Daulat Ram
The Insurance Agent
The Fawn
Man, How the Government of India Run!
The Man with a Clear Conscience
Black Jasmine
The Bottom-pincher
A Bride for the Sahib
***
*The Dog

[Prateek Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Khushwant Singh is my favorite for some reasons. His simple and lucid flow, character building, bringing the story to the brink of suspense and then leaving it's imprints to linger on your thoughts. He is just amazing storyteller.

[Srikumar Krishna Iyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little collection of short stories by Singh.
As usual each one of them was engaging. 👍
Just completed reading 📖 them in just few days time.
Looking forward to exploring more of his short stories collection.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Ananya Jain · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Pragathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

only MoV.

[Akshat Solanki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading stories of India's one of the most prolific writers is just a great thing to do.
It's a short stories collection by Khushwant Singh and it offers remarks on the society, thoughts of people then and how society proceeded then.
I, especially, liked the Mark of Vishnu story, which is just a simple and clean remark on the superstitious people.
All stories offer a great moral and that's what important when it comes to short stories.
It's a must read for youngsters.

For more reviews follow

BookRature

[Purnima Rajta Dhillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, its a a satorical story on the belief and superstitions of Indians and how when these superstitions are put to practical test, they backfire- at times fatally.
A good book, written in the usual Khushwant Singh style. Simple to read and understand, but holds a deep meaning which requires patience to understand.

[Shradhanjali Lama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing style as is associated with him is easy going. The collections of stories however have some insightful gifts to offer. They do not elevate you morally or philosophically but they do leave you with a lingering uneasiness.

[Jibran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A selection of highly entertaining stories that deal with religious hypocrisy, self-righteousness, vanity and deception, double lives, and above all, bawdy eroticism that could only have come from a writer who had acquired the epithet of "Dirty Sardar" for his frank stories.

[Tushar Upreti · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not the lusty khushwant singh you know. Here he is the observer and telling the agony of our society.He is tormenting the so called religious believes in a simple manner without judging good or bad.

[Parambir Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A set of really interesting short stories. What I really liked in these stories was how subtly Khushwant intertwines his views on the social ills ailing India like superstition, communal hatred, etc. with the plot of the story. I especially loved "The Riot", "The Voice of God" and "Zora Singh".

[Vikash Goyal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection and profound insight.

[Harish · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most of the stories do not have a good end or I must say that most of them end abruptly, nor do any of the story take us to a conclusion....

[Vaibhav Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

good 1

[Ravindra Pai · Rating 5 out of 5]

simple and awesome.

[Helmali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find works by Indian authors quite similar to what you hear at home. And this book was no exception. I mostly liked "The bottom-pincher", which was funny in a vulgar sort of way.

[Divya Gonnabathula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful compilation of short stories. Very realistically portrayed. Big fan of Khushwant singh, after reading his first book!