Athwani - 2

by Manaswini

Following the success of Athwani - 1 Manaswini has brought to you the next instalment of short stories (laghukathaa) of her Athwani series. The focus of this book has shifted from being pure memoirs to capturing all the finer detail in her descriptions. Stories like 'Bangadipuran', 'Lekhan samagri', 'Diwalicha killa', 'Kapde kharedi' are journeys into the past and readers get a taste of how things were in those times. While 'Thikari sagargote' and 'Khel patangaacha' describe traditional Indian games in great detail, other stories like 'Milkat vyavaharachi', 'Appalpote lok' depict social interactions and yet others like 'Haranachi goshta', 'Balvargatil savangadi' are sweet childhood memories! The writing illustrates a continuum showing things as they were in the past and how they have evolved into 'now.' Welcoming that 'change' graciously is the way forward, but we cannot afford to disconnect from the past totally! Stories like 'Super market' highlight just that and pose moral questions to readers. Quite a few stories are reflections of Manaswini's experiences as a school teacher – her students and their parents and the societies they came from! A couple of stories are actually based on school arithmetic and this is NEW! A unique subject mater for laghukathaa is being experimented for the first time in Marathi language.

The book is written in Manaswini's own words; she is the central character of each of the stories. The style of writing is simple and direct making it easy to assimilate all she is saying. Manaswini takes her readers in another world while she narrates encounters with different people, situations and times. Her stories describe interactions from various communities from a cosmopolitan Mumbai and appeal to native and non-native Marathi speakers alike! There are delightful comparisons, opinions and observations made, but they are subtle and cleverly worded. One is exposed to a wealth of nearly forgotten knowledge, traditions and moral standings of past and contemporary issues from 'deshi' and western point of view. A treatise to Marathi readers, surely this book is one above the previous volume.

ebook

First published July 31, 2015

About the author

Manaswini is a contemporary Marathi writer. With a teaching background in Mumbai she has interacted with students and parents from various strata of the society. Coming from a Brahmin family in an orthodox Puneri setting she had to face many challenges in her life. Denials being a girl, poverty, corruption and being bound by prestige and status of her family she learnt to find the positive side of things and find a way through all difficulties. Taking challenges became her second nature but she grew a philosophical dimension within and an ability to survive, live gracefully and win hearts!
Later she immigrated to the UK and this widened her horizons. She was exposed to a global community giving her an opportunity to make a comparative study of values, cultures and societies. Her writing style is lucid, influential and straight forward. She raises social, moral and ethical questions and gives accounts of how things were, current state of affairs and warnings for the future. Her works are well received by the young and old and despite challenges from other media such as films, music, internet etc. she aims to make Marathi book reading cool again!