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Basanti
Novel on a low-caste teen-age girl brought up in a Delhi basti; translated from Hindi. by a world-class Indian author, builds on earlier works such as Tamas
175 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 1, 2016
There is something extraordinary about reading classics. It's a compelling affair between the reader and the text. And the text is no ordinary -- classics survive all trials of time and in the process of attaining the undisputable stature, they often pass through several stages. The first, of course, being the very moot of going into print. The road to publishing is not a bed of roses and classics perhaps face the sternest eye of publishers. Unsure of their commercial viability, many of them take years to finally get into print. Once printed, criticism follows. The very substance of classics is such that one, almost instantly, tends to draw a comparison between the one in hand and those published earlier. As if this is not enough, these titles then face tremendous neglect and find few readers. Their writers, in most cases, pass away in silent oblivion. But then something magnificent happens. As the years pass, these titles gradually begin to make sense and it almost seems like the writer was far ahead of his times and that his writings begin to make sense and prove relevant years, sometimes decades and even centuries, after their actual death.
This very essence of surviving the trials of time and possessing an appeal to readers of subsequent generations in a manner as close to those of contemporary titles is what makes the classics the substance that they are. Reading a book in its maturity is a fascinating and extraordinary pleasure. The reader, in his subconscious mind, is aware of its significance -- knowingly or unknowingly one has stumbled across these books in libraries, read its extracts in bits and pieces in the works of other writers and has heard of it from teachers, other readers or peers. One is, therefore, making a careful choice -- picking a classic novel from a bookstore is not as random a decision as those with popular fiction. Picking classics is a rare affair but when one picks them, one is already somewhat aware of its contents and reads them not just for the pleasure of reading. Those reading classics are more attentive and critical and the interest with which they follow word to word is unmatchable.
The works of Bhisham Sahni (1915-2003), an iconic writer, who transformed the landscape of Hindi literature, has recently been translated to English and published by Penguin India in its Penguin Modern Classics series. Born in Rawalpindi, Sahni later went to college in Lahore. After Partition, he settled down in Delhi and began to teach at the University of Delhi and took to writing more earnestly. His first collection of short stories, Bhagya Rekha (Line of Fate), was published in 1953. In 1957 Sahni moved to Moscow, during which time he translated several Russian books into Hindi, notably some works of Leo Tolstoy. He returned to Delhi in 1963 to resume teaching. He edited the literary journal Nai Kahaniyan from 1965 to 1967. Sahni was a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Tamas in 1976. His writings include seven novels, nine collections of short stories, six plays and a biography of his brother, the actor and writer Balraj Sahni. Many of his books have been translated into numerous foreign and most major Indian languages. In 1998 he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, and the Padma Bhushan. In 1999 he received the Shlaka Award, the highest literary award from the Delhi government.
The four books that have been published in Penguin Modern Classics series are: Boyhood, translated from Hindi by Anna Khanna; Basanti, translated by Shveta Sarda; Tamas, translated by Daisy Rockwell; and Mansion, translated by Shveta Sarda.
Tamas tells the story of several families and figures. It is interesting to note that Sahni didn't even change the real names of many characters in the book to maintain the realism. The novel, while narrating the events of riots of Partition in 1947, brings forth a good Hindu, a good Muslim, a good Sikh; a bad Sikh, a bad Muslim and a bad Hindu, all worse than the British. There are some unbelievably alarming sequences in the title and to imagine them happening in reality simply sends a chilling wave down one's spine. Tamas relives the four days of brutality through the eyes of different characters in the offering and the sickening experiences of people. The offering is not just a timeless classic about the Partition of India but also a chilling reminder of the consequences of religious intolerance and communal prejudice. Daisy Rockwell's fresh and definitive translation wonderfully renders the power and passion of this iconic and award winning novel for an entire new generation of readers.
The next offering, Basanti, gives voice, laughter and resolve to a persona that might otherwise have coursed silently away through the veins of Delhi. The novel is a result of Sahni's keen sense of finding a story in the obvious.
We come across our housemaids working almost daily but we fail to observe the complexity of their lives at most occasions -- whether she is loved in the family, does she have a roof on her head, how she makes a living in a city (Delhi), where most of us struggle to meet our needs. Basanti is the story of such a girl, who over the course of the book goes through all her struggles and emerges a strong woman. The story narrates how she emerges from her Bollywood dream of "Sukhi Sansar" and finds peace in her destiny. The braid of young Basanti's life thickens with time. Feisty and fearless, she plays hide-and-seek with her overbearing father, dodges the crippled old tailor to whom she is sold and elopes with a handsome young man. The translation by Shveta Sarda is simple and lucid, yet gives the reader a strong image of the life across the road in that slum, you consider a menace to the society.
The next offering is Boyhood, a haunting portrait of the inescapable agonies and unfathomable desires of childhood. The novel is set in a bustling town in Punjab before Partition, where a sickly but restless child is constantly thwarted by his mother's anxious need to coddle him at home. When not being punished for using foul language, he is fighting with his siblings or being teased by the servant. With the passage of time, his curiosity for the wider world deepens and he discovers that his father is not invincible, that his long-held derision of girls has vanished with the first bloom of sexual longing and that the playground battles of old are no match for life's cruelties. The effortless translation by Anna Khanna makes it a compelling read and the reader is seldom tempted to skip lines. The offering presents the mood of a classic in its highest form -- one is lost in childhood fancy and this fascination ends not before one actually reaches the last line of the book.
The last of Sahni's work in Penguin's Modern Classics series is Mansion, a gripping tale about power, its arrogance and spectacle and the many claimants and renouncers, who desire or fear it. Magnificient in scope and intensely moving, Mansion spans the long years between the fall of the Khalsa regime and the turbulence of the British Raj. Innumerable characters populate these pages -- from the wily Diwan Dhanpat Rai to the idealistic Lekhraj, from innocent Rukmo to outspoken Bhagsuddhi. During the period, men and women shape their worlds, lose their grip and foothold and become adrift in the fierce vortices of unforeseen events. But for the Diwan's mansion itself, each event is only a passing moment in the town's colourful history. Translated by Shveta Sarda, the lucid offering is a must read for the younger generation that is increasingly losing ancestral ties.
Apart from the magnificence of these novels, the vintage sort of cover designs and easy typesetting also contribute in making these titles invaluable additions to modern classics. Tamas (hardbound) and Mansion are priced at Rs 399 each while Boyhood and Basanti are priced at Rs 299.
http://www.inkstreet.in/2016/04/inval...
This very essence of surviving the trials of time and possessing an appeal to readers of subsequent generations in a manner as close to those of contemporary titles is what makes the classics the substance that they are. Reading a book in its maturity is a fascinating and extraordinary pleasure. The reader, in his subconscious mind, is aware of its significance -- knowingly or unknowingly one has stumbled across these books in libraries, read its extracts in bits and pieces in the works of other writers and has heard of it from teachers, other readers or peers. One is, therefore, making a careful choice -- picking a classic novel from a bookstore is not as random a decision as those with popular fiction. Picking classics is a rare affair but when one picks them, one is already somewhat aware of its contents and reads them not just for the pleasure of reading. Those reading classics are more attentive and critical and the interest with which they follow word to word is unmatchable.
The works of Bhisham Sahni (1915-2003), an iconic writer, who transformed the landscape of Hindi literature, has recently been translated to English and published by Penguin India in its Penguin Modern Classics series. Born in Rawalpindi, Sahni later went to college in Lahore. After Partition, he settled down in Delhi and began to teach at the University of Delhi and took to writing more earnestly. His first collection of short stories, Bhagya Rekha (Line of Fate), was published in 1953. In 1957 Sahni moved to Moscow, during which time he translated several Russian books into Hindi, notably some works of Leo Tolstoy. He returned to Delhi in 1963 to resume teaching. He edited the literary journal Nai Kahaniyan from 1965 to 1967. Sahni was a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Tamas in 1976. His writings include seven novels, nine collections of short stories, six plays and a biography of his brother, the actor and writer Balraj Sahni. Many of his books have been translated into numerous foreign and most major Indian languages. In 1998 he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, and the Padma Bhushan. In 1999 he received the Shlaka Award, the highest literary award from the Delhi government.
The four books that have been published in Penguin Modern Classics series are: Boyhood, translated from Hindi by Anna Khanna; Basanti, translated by Shveta Sarda; Tamas, translated by Daisy Rockwell; and Mansion, translated by Shveta Sarda.
Tamas tells the story of several families and figures. It is interesting to note that Sahni didn't even change the real names of many characters in the book to maintain the realism. The novel, while narrating the events of riots of Partition in 1947, brings forth a good Hindu, a good Muslim, a good Sikh; a bad Sikh, a bad Muslim and a bad Hindu, all worse than the British. There are some unbelievably alarming sequences in the title and to imagine them happening in reality simply sends a chilling wave down one's spine. Tamas relives the four days of brutality through the eyes of different characters in the offering and the sickening experiences of people. The offering is not just a timeless classic about the Partition of India but also a chilling reminder of the consequences of religious intolerance and communal prejudice. Daisy Rockwell's fresh and definitive translation wonderfully renders the power and passion of this iconic and award winning novel for an entire new generation of readers.
The next offering, Basanti, gives voice, laughter and resolve to a persona that might otherwise have coursed silently away through the veins of Delhi. The novel is a result of Sahni's keen sense of finding a story in the obvious.
We come across our housemaids working almost daily but we fail to observe the complexity of their lives at most occasions -- whether she is loved in the family, does she have a roof on her head, how she makes a living in a city (Delhi), where most of us struggle to meet our needs. Basanti is the story of such a girl, who over the course of the book goes through all her struggles and emerges a strong woman. The story narrates how she emerges from her Bollywood dream of "Sukhi Sansar" and finds peace in her destiny. The braid of young Basanti's life thickens with time. Feisty and fearless, she plays hide-and-seek with her overbearing father, dodges the crippled old tailor to whom she is sold and elopes with a handsome young man. The translation by Shveta Sarda is simple and lucid, yet gives the reader a strong image of the life across the road in that slum, you consider a menace to the society.
The next offering is Boyhood, a haunting portrait of the inescapable agonies and unfathomable desires of childhood. The novel is set in a bustling town in Punjab before Partition, where a sickly but restless child is constantly thwarted by his mother's anxious need to coddle him at home. When not being punished for using foul language, he is fighting with his siblings or being teased by the servant. With the passage of time, his curiosity for the wider world deepens and he discovers that his father is not invincible, that his long-held derision of girls has vanished with the first bloom of sexual longing and that the playground battles of old are no match for life's cruelties. The effortless translation by Anna Khanna makes it a compelling read and the reader is seldom tempted to skip lines. The offering presents the mood of a classic in its highest form -- one is lost in childhood fancy and this fascination ends not before one actually reaches the last line of the book.
The last of Sahni's work in Penguin's Modern Classics series is Mansion, a gripping tale about power, its arrogance and spectacle and the many claimants and renouncers, who desire or fear it. Magnificient in scope and intensely moving, Mansion spans the long years between the fall of the Khalsa regime and the turbulence of the British Raj. Innumerable characters populate these pages -- from the wily Diwan Dhanpat Rai to the idealistic Lekhraj, from innocent Rukmo to outspoken Bhagsuddhi. During the period, men and women shape their worlds, lose their grip and foothold and become adrift in the fierce vortices of unforeseen events. But for the Diwan's mansion itself, each event is only a passing moment in the town's colourful history. Translated by Shveta Sarda, the lucid offering is a must read for the younger generation that is increasingly losing ancestral ties.
Apart from the magnificence of these novels, the vintage sort of cover designs and easy typesetting also contribute in making these titles invaluable additions to modern classics. Tamas (hardbound) and Mansion are priced at Rs 399 each while Boyhood and Basanti are priced at Rs 299.
http://www.inkstreet.in/2016/04/inval...
April 12, 2016
A tale that makes a mark upon your heart in its utmost simplicity - by way of words, emotions and the description of the lives of the characters. As simple as it may seem, it delves into some of the big problems faced by the poor- the fear of displacement, a sense of security and the feeling of "arriving home" when forced to live a nomadic life.
Basanti is the soul of the tale. It's her tale and the tale of many others like her who live their lives with an infectious laughter at the most unlikeliest of hours, even when their lives seem to be doomed to the well-off.
It is a startling glimpse into the lives of the ones whose stories often go untold. Their lives may seem shallow at first sight but delve a bit deeper. Often, they are the fighters, the brave warriors who face life boldly, even if it means to life with a 'bad' name, a child with his father having escaped with his wife and child, a shattered 'tandoor' that was meant to be the source of livelihood for a woman who constantly kept fighting all adversities because after all, she was 'Basanti'- who knew how to bring 'spring' into her life despite the many wilted autumns that she had to face throughout!
A must read.
- Divya Nambiar
Author:
Other books by the Author:
Basanti is the soul of the tale. It's her tale and the tale of many others like her who live their lives with an infectious laughter at the most unlikeliest of hours, even when their lives seem to be doomed to the well-off.
It is a startling glimpse into the lives of the ones whose stories often go untold. Their lives may seem shallow at first sight but delve a bit deeper. Often, they are the fighters, the brave warriors who face life boldly, even if it means to life with a 'bad' name, a child with his father having escaped with his wife and child, a shattered 'tandoor' that was meant to be the source of livelihood for a woman who constantly kept fighting all adversities because after all, she was 'Basanti'- who knew how to bring 'spring' into her life despite the many wilted autumns that she had to face throughout!
A must read.
- Divya Nambiar
Author:
Other books by the Author:
September 23, 2011
Bhisham Sahni and his true landscape description of the society, gives us another piece of excellent writing. His keen sense of finding a story in the obvious reminds me of the serials Hum Log and Nukkad from the 80s. On a daily basis we see our housemaids working, but what we fail to observe is the complexity of their lives. Whether her parents love her, whether her husbands wants and treasures her, how does she live, does she have a roof on her head, how she manages her ends in a city where you yourself struggle to meet your needs. Basanti is story of such a girl who over the course of the book goes through all her struggles and grows into a woman. How she emerges from her Bollywood dream of ‘love around the trees’ and ‘Sukhi Sansar’ and finds peace in her destiny. The writing is simple and lucid yet gives you a strong image of the life across the road in that slum, you consider a menace to the society.
September 3, 2021
Basanti : Bhisham Sahni
A Story of a delhi Street girl.
A Story of a delhi Street girl.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews