The bird of gold and other stories

by Om Goswami

The Bird of Gold' is a political fable of modern times exp Originally published as 'Sunne Di Chiree' in Dogri, this book is a collection of seven long stories. These stories lay bare the social inequalities, the injustices, the exploitation by the 'haves' and the general erosion of moral values in modern times.

164 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Vikas Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated in English from Dogri by Shivnath this Sahitya Akademi award winning collection of seven Dogri stories explores the issues of social injustice, inequality and corruption. The stories expose hypocrisy and political dishonesty that is now replacing the long-cherished values in the society.

[Khyati · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set around 1980s, this is a collection of 7 short stories revolving around the theme of societal injustice and inequality. The stories depict the frustration of unemployed youth, rampant favoritism in public as well as private sector, knowledge disparity between people residing in urban and rural areas and constant struggle of identity in a patriarchal society.

Though each story has a strong plot but the characters are feeble, they succumb to their situations readily as if they were waiting for it. The treatment of the characters could have been much better.

The titular story is the only one which holds its ground in terms of subject and treatment, rest lacked the substance.

I was disappointed with the translation as well. It was kind of a missed opportunity because there was ample scope of improvisation which in this case; would have worked.