खिलेगा तो देखेंगे

by Vinod Kumar Shukla

A thunderstorm blows the roof off a village school. Guruji, the school teacher, who lives in the school building with his family, is forced to seek shelter in an abandoned police station. The schoolhouse opens to the sky, and along with it, this intensely poetic novel opens up to the inner world of a dozen Guruji, his wife, their two children, the village watchman, the tailor, the teashop owner at the railway station and the stationmaster. There is also the worldly-wise grocer, Jivrakhan, and his wife, who listens to the radio because nothing else will fill the emptiness in her life. A dreamlike novel that is an extraordinary evocation of modern India.

232 pages, Hardcover

About the author

Vinod Kumar Shukla (born 1 January 1937) is a modern Hindi writer known for his surreal style that often borders on magic-realism and sometimes move beyond it. His works include the novels Naukar ki Kameez and Deewar Mein Ek Khirkee Rahati Thi (A Window lived in a Wall), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award for the best Hindi work in 1999.

His first collection of poems Lagbhag Jai Hind was published in 1971. Vah Aadmi Chala Gaya Naya Garam Coat Pehankar Vichar Ki Tarah was his second collection of poems, published in 1981 by Sambhavna Prakashan. Naukar Ki Kameez (The Servant's Shirt) was his first novel, brought out in 1979 by the same publisher. Per Par Kamra (Room on the Tree), a collection of short stories, was brought out in 1988, and another collection of poems in 1992, Sab Kuch Hona Bacha Rahega.

Vinod Kumar Shukla was a guest littérateur at the Nirala Srijanpeeth in AGRA from 1994 to 1996 during which he wrote two novels Khilega To Dekhenge and the refreshing Deewar Mein Ek Khirkee Rahati Thi. The latter has been translated into English by Prof. Satti Khanna of Duke University as A Window Lived in a Wall.

Reviews

[Arun Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

आशा। विनोद कुमार शुक्ल के लेखन में हमेशा जो चीज अपनी तरफ पूरी सरलता से खींचती रही है, वो है आशा। सुनहरी गुदगुदाती। पर फिर है ये किताब।

शुक्ल एक ऐसे संसार के बारे में कह रहे हैं जो ठीक वैसा ही है जैसा उनके दूसरे संसार होते हैं। रहस्मयी पर सरल। जादू से भरे पर रोजमर्रा के लोग, चीज़ें, घटनाएं। यहां भी चिड़िया अकेली नहीं है। अनेक हैं। झूठमूठ के गूंगे होने वाले गांव हैं। खाना न मिलने पर कमजोर पड़ने वाला लड़का है। झूठमूठ की बीड़ी का नशा करने वाला कोटवार है। पति पत्नी का छिपा संसार है जिसमें जब चाहें वो लड़का लड़की बन जाते हैं। बोलने से लकड़ी की बंदूक से गोली निकल जाती है। लिखे हुए को बंद करने का प्रावधान है।

पर, बादल। इस बार धूप उतनी सुनहरी नहीं है। ये धूप जीवन के सबसे कठिन और असल क्षणों की धूप है। इसमें शंकाओं का समावेश बहुत है। इन पत्रों में मनुष्यता (जैसी है) वैसी बहुत ज्यादा प्रदर्शित है। लगता है कि विनोद कुमार शुक्ल ने ये पात्र लिखे भीतर से हैं पर आशा कम थी, शायद जीवन को जस का तस दिखाना होगा।

और इसी के लिए शुक्रिया कहने का मन है। ये उपन्यास इतना जीवंत है कि बार बार इसके पास लौटना पड़ेगा। कुछ बहुत ही मासूम पर mature पढ़ा है। आशा लेकिन असल के जीवन की आंधी में फड़फड़ाती। जादू। रहस्य और जीवन।

[Ankur Tyagi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"एक दरवाजे को बंद कर हमने पूरे बाहर को बंद कर दिया है। एक छोटे से कमरे में बंद होकर स्वतंत्र है। अपने कमरे का दरवाजा बंद कर हमने सारी दुनिया को बाहर बंद कर दिया। सारी दुनिया हमारी कैद में है। अपने दरवाजे को खोलकर हम दुनिया के कमरे में जाते हैं। जितनी बड़ी दुनिया है उतना बड़ा उसका कमरा है। सूरज उस कमरे में बहुत ऊपर चढ़ आया था।"

[Divya Pal · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Alice's Adventures in Wonderland type of book, खिलेगा तो देखेंगे is narrated in a dreamy, surreal, poetic style.

There must be a silencer mounted on time as well. Try as one might, it’s hard to make out time’s passing. Maybe the silencer in Guruji’s rooms has tiny perforation that let time’s ticking through

The nightingale sang while the sparrow was visible. Using playback technology, the sparrow sang the nightingale’s song.

The bucolic pace meanders along with lethal wooden guns, seismic events, conversations like Vedic incantations enlivening the narrative.

A person can’t run his hands over the day to feel out its shape the way he can run his hands over a flute to tell it is a flute

At one point there is a crescendo of ticking clocks like Pink Floyd’s Time.

Families painted a safety charm on the wall of their huts. They would pick up a fistful of cow-dung and paint the image of a man and woman protected by a circle. The charm was painted during the rainy season. The pain families bore in their routine life was sufficient for them. The circle was intended to prevent their suffering from brimming and overflowing, to keep the suffering in their own houses rather than have it leak out to a neighbour’s

They played small flutes as was their custom. Only now did the morning truly arrive. The other morning had been false. People who owned watches reset the time. The sum moved back and started the morning all over again.

Dirt went into the cracks when she walked on dry earth. When she walked over cracked soil, the cracks themselves stuck to her feet

Such evocative descriptions are littered all over the book, strongly recommending further reading of Vinod Kumar Shukla's works.

[Aparichit Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, how does time sound like? If I were to map it to the rigor of mother's voice early in the morning to the lethargic decibels coming out of my father's mouth at night, would I be able to tell all the time that has passed in between?

How does love smell like? Can I smell it from the Rotis that my mother cooks for me or from the chicken/mutton that my father makes every fortnight? Or from a shared meal with a friend?

Why doesn't my home come behind me, uprooting itself from its cemented foundation, chasing me like a bereaved lover as I board the bus to another town or if I decide to walk, why doesn't it start walking couple of paces behind me, to ensure that whenever I am feeling lost and abandoned, I can easily walk back couple of steps to enter it again and feel complete and fulfilled?

Does this book answer these naive and innocent queries? No. But do I get to live them in sentience while reading it? YES.

[Prabhali Bomma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kind of book you read on a wintery evening while munching on hot pakoras and sipping on strong ginger tea!

This novel let's you wander, treads along the fine line that separates the illusionary from the real. One where you mull over your thoughts and at the same time allow them to wander. :)

[Aniket Patil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compared to other books of this author ,I found this one little okay okay . could have been better. however, I still enjoyed it.

[Shivani Chauhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author portrayed the simple lifestyle of the folks in village. He had been successful in revealing each and every detail about the places, the situations and conditions of the people. The straightforward and  the simple style of writing is praiseworthy. In the book, the author explained about the hardships and  challenges that were faced by the people living in village. Their stories clearly represent the way of living of people. The kind of settlement, development, habits and state of people are evidently illustrated by the author. The book is an extraordinary imaginative re-creation of modern India.

For me this was an interesting read. The book holds various characters that were certainly very influential. And through these simple tales, one can grasp the prominent details about sustainability and real life. The way how these village people encountered each and every problem was noteworthy. I liked the way how author has mingle the flavors of emotions and sentiments of the inhabitants of village. The numerous quotes mentioned above each chapter of the book were beautiful and captivating. The figment of imagination has added on to the remarkable storyline of the book. I liked the author’s exceptional style of writing. It was striking and can able to hold the interest of the readers.

[sarvesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic of best author of our time.