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यासि रासा त
In this story of three cousins, Vinod Kumar Shukla has introduced the meagre material culture of Chhatisgarh villages illuminated by Yasi, Rasa and Ta's sense of wonder about their parents' existence and the world at large. It is a children's book because the narrative is simple. It is a poet's book because each object - chappal, ghada, katori, phugga - seems more than itself, full of primal sounds and dipped in the mystery of 'being'.The exquisite beauty of the text reminds one of Saint-Exupery's Little Prince. It can become a source of wonder for both children and adults around the world.A dream of small-scale harmony against a cosmic backdrop.
198 pages, Paperback
Published March 20, 2017
20 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Vinod Kumar Shukla
46 books176 followersVinod 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 1, 2021
If I can love it SO MUCH in translation, how gorgeous must the original be? Will definitely read the Hindi version- which only 3 authors have made me do till date, Sahir Ludhianvi, Gulzar and Dushyant Kumar. You need so much patience, so much love to truly immerse yourself in the world of Yasi, Rasa and Ta, see the world through their eyes, and relish it. The book has the same quality as The Little Prince, and it makes the same demands- suspend the laws of adulthood and immerse yourself in the dreamy, vibrant, dazzling world of the children. I want to read it again and again, remember what it was like to truly be 5, and witness the world, truly witness it. As Louise Gluck writes "We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory." This book is a 200 odd pages long proof of that. ❤
June 8, 2025
Quite beautiful
November 7, 2021
Yasi Rasa Ta (2017) by Vinod Kumar Shukla is a novel in 26 short stories.
Yasi and Rasa are two sisters who have their own way of looking at things. For instance, Rasa likes to sit under the table so she notices people's feet first. Yasi, sitting on top of it, notices the face.
In children's games and musings, many perceptions of reality are in dialogue with each other. All these thoughts and observations are valid in their own way, none can be dismissed. A plurality is established.
Shukla'a writing borders magic realism. It brings in delight in reading, brings inanimate objects to life in a way that you believe them, entirely. All characters are peculiar in a way that they are unforgettable. The kids' father looks at objects as if they can feel joy and pain, and you believe him.
What I love the most about it is the way all stories are connected. Shukla takes one element from a story, and builds the next story about that element — be it character, thing, or place. Needless to say, the novel doesn't have a plot — as in a traditional beginning, middle, and end.
Moreover, there's a long description of debate about words, names, and meanings, and their relationship with each other, when Yasi and Rasa sit down to name their little sister who's eventually called Ta.
The novel doesn't dwell on deep philosophies of life and death. Yet, it manages to give you a new lens to look at every day. Or at least, refreshes the old one.
It reminded me of childhood, summer vacations, and (in the beginning, to some extent) Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar Ke. It was a delightful read and the narration is to die for — just paying attention to what Shukla calls his characters wrt to the others present in the scene is interesting!
My favourite chapter, most definitely, is the 4th one — Gum Ho Kar Kho Gaye Ko Dhundna.
Yasi and Rasa are two sisters who have their own way of looking at things. For instance, Rasa likes to sit under the table so she notices people's feet first. Yasi, sitting on top of it, notices the face.
In children's games and musings, many perceptions of reality are in dialogue with each other. All these thoughts and observations are valid in their own way, none can be dismissed. A plurality is established.
Shukla'a writing borders magic realism. It brings in delight in reading, brings inanimate objects to life in a way that you believe them, entirely. All characters are peculiar in a way that they are unforgettable. The kids' father looks at objects as if they can feel joy and pain, and you believe him.
What I love the most about it is the way all stories are connected. Shukla takes one element from a story, and builds the next story about that element — be it character, thing, or place. Needless to say, the novel doesn't have a plot — as in a traditional beginning, middle, and end.
Moreover, there's a long description of debate about words, names, and meanings, and their relationship with each other, when Yasi and Rasa sit down to name their little sister who's eventually called Ta.
The novel doesn't dwell on deep philosophies of life and death. Yet, it manages to give you a new lens to look at every day. Or at least, refreshes the old one.
It reminded me of childhood, summer vacations, and (in the beginning, to some extent) Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar Ke. It was a delightful read and the narration is to die for — just paying attention to what Shukla calls his characters wrt to the others present in the scene is interesting!
My favourite chapter, most definitely, is the 4th one — Gum Ho Kar Kho Gaye Ko Dhundna.
November 11, 2025
This was another masterpiece of Vinod Kumar Shukla on magical realism. I think I've deciphered a little pattern of how he makes the readers feel. Although, "Deewar mei ek Khidki rehti hai" still stands tall in my favourite pick but hear me out. You cannot just start savouring his writings just like that, living in this rapidly fast paced world. His writings can only be a pleasure to the audience when they feel that level of stillness in them in that moment. Thus, patience is a befitting word. So in this pursuit of deprecating your racing life a little, half of the work has to be done by you and the other best half would be taken care of by his writing. Then boom!
You would begin to feel that sparkling solitude, that element of jazz in the daily life mentioned here. (4.5/5)
You would begin to feel that sparkling solitude, that element of jazz in the daily life mentioned here. (4.5/5)
December 20, 2020
Loved the fantasy element to jazz up the daily lives. A great easy read, but it does become profound in bits and pieces in between. I surely see myself coming back to this time and again for the quick snackeable snippets.
June 5, 2022
A beautiful book again based on magical realism. There are many short stories inside the book which are from each other . Vinod kumar shukla never ceases to amaze me
May 10, 2021
"The moon is a big dot
A child
Wiping down the slate of night
Left off
The other children left off small dots
And saved us stars
'How many stars did they save us?'
'As many stars as children.'"
Somewhere around page 68, I paused, took a deep breath and wrote on the last page, that I cannot rush through this book. I wrote that every chapter is like a helium balloon and if I hold too many at once, I will fly away. So I took my time reading through the stories, only to stop and gasp at page 88 where a boy who owns a balloon shop was stuck high up near the ceiling of the shop because he was holding too many helium balloons. It felt like I had thought those balloons into materialising on the pages of the book, like anything could be willed into existence if you could imagine it. And that is just the sort of magical book this is. The magic is possible because Yasi, Rasa and Ta are children who can imagine anything! They can imagine bicycles getting so bored that they run away, chalk doodles squirming and squiggling, or rickshaws that always go downhill, whether they're going uphill or downhill, whether they are coming or going, and these children, in turn, are the wonderful imaginings of Vinod Kumar Shukla.
That this literary equivalent of a musical, this ethereal dance of poetry and prose exists in Hindi literature makes me want to read more Hindi books. There is so much to explore, I can barely imagine.
A child
Wiping down the slate of night
Left off
The other children left off small dots
And saved us stars
'How many stars did they save us?'
'As many stars as children.'"
Somewhere around page 68, I paused, took a deep breath and wrote on the last page, that I cannot rush through this book. I wrote that every chapter is like a helium balloon and if I hold too many at once, I will fly away. So I took my time reading through the stories, only to stop and gasp at page 88 where a boy who owns a balloon shop was stuck high up near the ceiling of the shop because he was holding too many helium balloons. It felt like I had thought those balloons into materialising on the pages of the book, like anything could be willed into existence if you could imagine it. And that is just the sort of magical book this is. The magic is possible because Yasi, Rasa and Ta are children who can imagine anything! They can imagine bicycles getting so bored that they run away, chalk doodles squirming and squiggling, or rickshaws that always go downhill, whether they're going uphill or downhill, whether they are coming or going, and these children, in turn, are the wonderful imaginings of Vinod Kumar Shukla.
That this literary equivalent of a musical, this ethereal dance of poetry and prose exists in Hindi literature makes me want to read more Hindi books. There is so much to explore, I can barely imagine.
March 2, 2021
व्योमेश शुक्ल ने अपनी किताब में कहा कि दुनिया कितनी कम विनोद कुमार शुक्ल है। ये बात इस किताब को पढ़ के बिलकुल clear हो जाती है। ऐसी सरलता से लिख देते हैं कि आपके भीतर चले जाते हैं शब्द। एक तो दुनिया देखने का नजरिया। विनोद कुमार शुक्ल की दुनिया उस chinese doll की तरह है जिसके भीतर जितना भी खोलो dolls निकलती रहेंगी। और विनोद कुमार शुक्ल ऐसे ही किसी मध्य से शुरू होकर आगे और पीछे को बताते हैं। Magical realism का इतना सरल तरीका पढ़ के लगता है कि ये दुनिया हमें मिल जाए तो सुख है।
हर लाइन एक आशा है। आशा कि बच्चे पढ़ जाएं। आशा कि किसी की साइकिल चोरी न हो। आशा कि आस पास वाले हर चीज में प्राण देखें। आशा कि सब अच्छा हो। आशा कि सब आशा करें। आशा कि दुनिया थोड़ी और हरी हो।
सब कुछ इतनी मासूमियत भरा है कि दिल गुदगुदा उठेगा।
हर लाइन एक आशा है। आशा कि बच्चे पढ़ जाएं। आशा कि किसी की साइकिल चोरी न हो। आशा कि आस पास वाले हर चीज में प्राण देखें। आशा कि सब अच्छा हो। आशा कि सब आशा करें। आशा कि दुनिया थोड़ी और हरी हो।
सब कुछ इतनी मासूमियत भरा है कि दिल गुदगुदा उठेगा।
July 17, 2025
चौबीस घंटे की खुली दुकान में दरवाज़ा नहीं था। दरवाज़ा होता तो कभी बंद हो सकता था। दिन में पच्चीस घंटे तो नहीं थे, नहीं तो एक घंटे के लिए दुकान बंद कर देते।
Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.
Just thinking about this book makes me feel proud—proud that India has a writer like Vinod Kumar Shukla, whose storytelling easily stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Gabriel García Márquez, Kafka, and Murakami. And I say that not lightly—I’ve read all three, and still, I felt that same sense of wonder, strangeness, and quiet beauty while reading Yasi Rasa Ta.
The title—Yasi Rasa Ta—is made of three names, of three girls, around whom the story gently revolves. And it revolves not like a storm or a whirlwind, but like a paper boat circling in a pond stirred by poetry.
The book has 26 chapters—and every single one of them contains some form of quiet magic. There’s prose here, and there’s poetry too. And above all, there’s that unmistakable Vinod Kumar Shukla touch: light sprinkles of surrealism, magic realism, and emotion, carefully scattered like powdered sugar over something already beautiful.
It’s tender. It’s strange. It’s unapologetically original. And it’s written in Hindi.
April 10, 2021
Picked up a book after more than two months. I may have missed some underlying magic realism aspect of the book. Somehow the book didn’t seem to hold my attention after 18 chapters (a total of 26) and there was possibly a lot lost in translation.
March 8, 2025
विनोद कुमार जी द्वारा लिखी हुई Magical realism पर एक और खूबसूरत किताब। इसमें छोटी छोटी सी बहुत सी कहानियां है जो आपस में जुड़ी हुई है।
August 7, 2021
# 73 यसी रसा त - विनोद कुमार शुक्ल - यह उपन्यास बाल उपन्यास है। भाषा इतने छोटे बच्चों के लिए है की पढ़ने में बहुत कठिनाई हुई। प्रवाह नहीं बन पाया।
September 1, 2020
है तो बच्चों की किताब, और मैं चाहता भी हूं कि आस पास सब बच्चे इसे पढ़ें। लेकिन उस में मां बाप, भाई बहन, शिक्षक इत्यादि की भूमिका अहम होगी, क्योंकि वैसी सीधी ज़बान में नहीं लिखा गया है। हो सकता है बड़ों को बच्चों से ज़्यादा मज़ा आए, जैसा मुझे आया। हमारे समय की निम्न मध्यम वर्गीय संस्कृति की यह एक ख़ूबसूरत तस्वीर है, जिससे भागने के लिए बहुत लिखा गया है, अपनाने के लिए कम - इस तरह से भी यह एहम काम ��ै - लेकिन बस इसका महंगा दाम आड़े आता है।
कुछ बातें इतनी विचित्र और सुन्दर हैं कि दिल सीने में छलांगें लगाता है। इलस्ट्रेशन्ज़ तो लाजवाब! मन में छपी हैं। बीच बीच में जो कविताएं आती हैं, वे बच्चों को याद रह जाएंगी और ज़िन्दगी भर की साथी बन जाएंगी।
मन ख़ुश हुआ इसे पढ़ के। कहानी का नहीं, पढ़ने का लुत्फ़ लेने के लिए पढ़ें।
कुछ बातें इतनी विचित्र और सुन्दर हैं कि दिल सीने में छलांगें लगाता है। इलस्ट्रेशन्ज़ तो लाजवाब! मन में छपी हैं। बीच बीच में जो कविताएं आती हैं, वे बच्चों को याद रह जाएंगी और ज़िन्दगी भर की साथी बन जाएंगी।
मन ख़ुश हुआ इसे पढ़ के। कहानी का नहीं, पढ़ने का लुत्फ़ लेने के लिए पढ़ें।
January 14, 2020
विनोद कुमार शुक्ल जी के किरदार और कहानियाँ जादू हैं, क्योंकि यहाँ निर्जीव भी सजीव की भांति पेश आते हैं। इस उपन्यास में मध्य-वर्गीय परिवारों और मुहल्लों के संघर्ष को चिन्हित न कर, उनकी अद्भुत-सी आदतों और विचारों में छुपी सरलता को गुदगुदाहट के रूप में पन्नों पर उतरा गया है।
अगर आप कभी भी इन किसी भी किरदारों में अपने जीवन में मिले हों आप इसके पहले दो पन्ने पढ़ने के बाद ही खुद को इस दुनिया में सदैव रहने की इच्छा जतायेंगे। ये उपन्यास आपको निश्चिन्त करती है आपकी हरेक परेशानियों से, आपके उलझे हुए विचारों से और, सबसे महत्वपूर्ण, भविष्य के अनायास आये डर से।
जरूर पढ़ें, अपनी जीवन या मन की चंचलता को वापस पाने के लिए!
अगर आप कभी भी इन किसी भी किरदारों में अपने जीवन में मिले हों आप इसके पहले दो पन्ने पढ़ने के बाद ही खुद को इस दुनिया में सदैव रहने की इच्छा जतायेंगे। ये उपन्यास आपको निश्चिन्त करती है आपकी हरेक परेशानियों से, आपके उलझे हुए विचारों से और, सबसे महत्वपूर्ण, भविष्य के अनायास आये डर से।
जरूर पढ़ें, अपनी जीवन या मन की चंचलता को वापस पाने के लिए!
October 3, 2017
okay but not that fascinating than his other books
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews