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देव चालले
When a family decides to remove its ancestral gods from a deserted village home, it marks more than a physical relocation. It signals the end of a way of life.
After returning to Palasgaon, four brothers confront the slow, irreversible unravelling of the world that shaped them. The house that once held festivals and faith now stands neglected; the village has thinned out; devotion has become impractical, even inconvenient. For some, the gods remain living presences, bound to memory and meaning. For others, they are symbols of obligations that no longer fit a changed social and economic reality. As the family prepares for the final rituals, buried resentments, longings and private griefs rise to the surface.
First published in Marathi in 1961, The Gods Are Leaving is a modern classic—a profound exploration of a society in transition, where inherited faith collides with modern pressures, and tradition yields—uneasily—to new values of mobility, pragmatism, and individual survival. D.B. Mokashi captures the inner lives of his characters with remarkable sensitivity, showing how historical change is experienced not as abstraction, but as emotional loss, confusion and quiet resistance.
Shanta Gokhale’s elegant and nuanced rendering brings this deeply human novel about belief and doubt, continuity and rupture, to a new generation of readers.
After returning to Palasgaon, four brothers confront the slow, irreversible unravelling of the world that shaped them. The house that once held festivals and faith now stands neglected; the village has thinned out; devotion has become impractical, even inconvenient. For some, the gods remain living presences, bound to memory and meaning. For others, they are symbols of obligations that no longer fit a changed social and economic reality. As the family prepares for the final rituals, buried resentments, longings and private griefs rise to the surface.
First published in Marathi in 1961, The Gods Are Leaving is a modern classic—a profound exploration of a society in transition, where inherited faith collides with modern pressures, and tradition yields—uneasily—to new values of mobility, pragmatism, and individual survival. D.B. Mokashi captures the inner lives of his characters with remarkable sensitivity, showing how historical change is experienced not as abstraction, but as emotional loss, confusion and quiet resistance.
Shanta Gokhale’s elegant and nuanced rendering brings this deeply human novel about belief and doubt, continuity and rupture, to a new generation of readers.
89 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1961
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 11, 2015
An Information:
A family history or a community history can be studied by studying the God/Goddess worship practised by that particular family/community. Wherever the family/community moved the particular deity is carried by the family/community head to that new place. For, the deity belongs to a particular family/community. So even the migration studies of communities can be easily analyzed studying the movements of deities. This is the normal situation in Tamil Nadu. But having read this Marathi novel, I understood that it is the normal practice in Maharashtra too.
The Novel:
This novel is about a family of four brothers. The four brothers hail from a small village in Maharashtra and who now live in various parts of the city forced to migration due to job opportunities. After many years the brothers, now two married and two unmarried, return to the village to transfer the family deity. As there will be no one to stay in the village except the old aunt who was taking care of the house and the Gods, the brothers have now decided that it was time they carried the Gods to their new homes in city. Naturally the responsibility falls on the eldest brother. As they return to the village each one is affected emotionally in a different manner. That forms the plot of this novel.
So simple a premise. But poured into it are the feelings of nostalgia for the childhood; the feelings of fond sentiments for the village and house; the inescapable sense of guilt of transferring the Gods (when a deity is taken away by a family/community that family/community no longer becomes the part of that particular village. Interestingly on the other hand a God who is left untended is also a shame to the family. It is better to take the God along than to leave him untended.) In a subtle way this novel also speaks a lot about human sentiments for the past and the practical present needs that force men to act in a particular way.
On the surface, it was a simple story. But as I was completing the story I too was feeling like the sad onlooking villagers that a dear family was moving away from me.
A family history or a community history can be studied by studying the God/Goddess worship practised by that particular family/community. Wherever the family/community moved the particular deity is carried by the family/community head to that new place. For, the deity belongs to a particular family/community. So even the migration studies of communities can be easily analyzed studying the movements of deities. This is the normal situation in Tamil Nadu. But having read this Marathi novel, I understood that it is the normal practice in Maharashtra too.
The Novel:
This novel is about a family of four brothers. The four brothers hail from a small village in Maharashtra and who now live in various parts of the city forced to migration due to job opportunities. After many years the brothers, now two married and two unmarried, return to the village to transfer the family deity. As there will be no one to stay in the village except the old aunt who was taking care of the house and the Gods, the brothers have now decided that it was time they carried the Gods to their new homes in city. Naturally the responsibility falls on the eldest brother. As they return to the village each one is affected emotionally in a different manner. That forms the plot of this novel.
So simple a premise. But poured into it are the feelings of nostalgia for the childhood; the feelings of fond sentiments for the village and house; the inescapable sense of guilt of transferring the Gods (when a deity is taken away by a family/community that family/community no longer becomes the part of that particular village. Interestingly on the other hand a God who is left untended is also a shame to the family. It is better to take the God along than to leave him untended.) In a subtle way this novel also speaks a lot about human sentiments for the past and the practical present needs that force men to act in a particular way.
On the surface, it was a simple story. But as I was completing the story I too was feeling like the sad onlooking villagers that a dear family was moving away from me.
November 14, 2019
Mokasi könyve egy szertartás leírása: egy indiai faluba érkezik négy fivér, hogy elköltöztesse onnan házi isteneiket, mert a ház kiürül. Ezt a hátteret az író arra használja föl, hogy megmutassa a vallásos rítus mögötti emberi szándékokat, elvárásokat, kétségeket. Ami leginkább meglepett, hogy Mokasi mennyire tárgyilagosan járja körül ezt a témát. Arra számítottam, hogy 1.) kapok egy gúnyrajzot a 33 millió hindu istenről, illetve ezek abszurditásáról egy modern korban, vagy 2.) kapok egy bús szeánszot arról, hogy a múlt és a tradíció elsorvad, és helyette mi marad? a nagy semmi. Nos, egyik elképzelésem se jött be. Ha Mokasi akar egyáltalán üzenni valamit ezzel a kisregénnyel, az talán a dolgok törvényszerű volta – és hogy ehhez a törvényszerűséghez igazából nem kell erkölcsi előjelet kapcsolnunk. Ezt a fajta semlegességet még ki is emeli azzal, hogy írói módszerei kifejezetten európaiak – én speciel csak nyomokban fedeztem fel benne az indiai prózahagyományt. Amit véletlenül sem bírálatként említek meg.
És ami még meglepett: mennyire marginális szerepet tölt be ebben a könyvben a trópusi táj jelenléte. Mondjuk ez meg érthető. Mokasi ott él Indiában, neki ez a közeg evidens, talán észre sem veszi. Bezzeg ha a Csepel-szigetről írna regényt, biztos másfél oldalas leírásokba bonyolódna a víz fölé hajló füzekről, meg ahogy a zöld helyiérdekű átrobog a Dunán. Amúgy nem volt rossz szöveg. Talán még impozánsabban mutatott volna két-három másik kisregénnyel egy kötetben.
És ami még meglepett: mennyire marginális szerepet tölt be ebben a könyvben a trópusi táj jelenléte. Mondjuk ez meg érthető. Mokasi ott él Indiában, neki ez a közeg evidens, talán észre sem veszi. Bezzeg ha a Csepel-szigetről írna regényt, biztos másfél oldalas leírásokba bonyolódna a víz fölé hajló füzekről, meg ahogy a zöld helyiérdekű átrobog a Dunán. Amúgy nem volt rossz szöveg. Talán még impozánsabban mutatott volna két-három másik kisregénnyel egy kötetben.
April 29, 2025
फक्त ८९ पानांमध्ये परिवारातल्या सर्व व्यक्तिरेखा कशा बरे ओताव्या? मन हेलावून सोडणारी ही कादंबरी इतकी सहज आणि परिणामकारक आहे की प्रश्न पडतो की मोठ्या मोठया कादंबऱ्यांमध्ये व्यक्तिचित्रणासाठी जी अनेक पाने खर्ची होतात त्याची खरेच गरज आहे?
एकाच कुटुंबातले ४ भाऊ. व्यवसायासाठी गाव सोडून शहरात गेले आहेत. प्रत्येकाची आर्थिक स्थिती, विवंचना वेगळ्या. तरी ते एकत्र आहेत. ह्या कथेत खलनायक कोणी नाही. असलाच तर तो काळ आहे. तो का कोणासाठी थांबतो? गावात आता काही राहिले नाही. मग गावातल्या मूळ घरातील देव आता शहरात नेले पाहिजेत. ३०० वर्ष जुनी नरहरीची मूर्ती, अशी सहज उचलून कोठे नेता येते? त्याच बरोबर भावनांचे, आठवणींचे धागे आहेत ते सोडवायचे की तोडायचे?
हे वाचताना एलकुंचवारांच्या वाडा चिरेबंदी नाटाकाची आठवण झाली. त्यात भांड्याला भांडी लागतात. इथे तसे नाही, एकमेकांवर मुळातून राग किंवा परभावना नाही. म्हणून ही कथावस्तू हाताशपणाचा अनुभव देते.
जुन्या गावाचे वर्णन मध्ये मध्ये येते ते सुरेख जमले आहे. अशी पुस्तके काळाचा ठेवा असतात. शेणाने सारवलेल्या जमीनी टाईल्स मध्ये बदलल्या तरी पायाच्या जाणिवा मिटत नाहीत. त्या अशाच पुस्तकामध्ये लपून राहतात.
एकाच कुटुंबातले ४ भाऊ. व्यवसायासाठी गाव सोडून शहरात गेले आहेत. प्रत्येकाची आर्थिक स्थिती, विवंचना वेगळ्या. तरी ते एकत्र आहेत. ह्या कथेत खलनायक कोणी नाही. असलाच तर तो काळ आहे. तो का कोणासाठी थांबतो? गावात आता काही राहिले नाही. मग गावातल्या मूळ घरातील देव आता शहरात नेले पाहिजेत. ३०० वर्ष जुनी नरहरीची मूर्ती, अशी सहज उचलून कोठे नेता येते? त्याच बरोबर भावनांचे, आठवणींचे धागे आहेत ते सोडवायचे की तोडायचे?
हे वाचताना एलकुंचवारांच्या वाडा चिरेबंदी नाटाकाची आठवण झाली. त्यात भांड्याला भांडी लागतात. इथे तसे नाही, एकमेकांवर मुळातून राग किंवा परभावना नाही. म्हणून ही कथावस्तू हाताशपणाचा अनुभव देते.
जुन्या गावाचे वर्णन मध्ये मध्ये येते ते सुरेख जमले आहे. अशी पुस्तके काळाचा ठेवा असतात. शेणाने सारवलेल्या जमीनी टाईल्स मध्ये बदलल्या तरी पायाच्या जाणिवा मिटत नाहीत. त्या अशाच पुस्तकामध्ये लपून राहतात.
May 26, 2026
The Gods are Leaving by DB Mokashi, tr from Marathi by Shanta Gokhale is a keen exploration of the tug of war between tradition and modernity in a society in constant flux.
At the core of the narrative is the Joshi family that's been worshipping Lord Narahari for about 300 years. For 8 generations, daily prayers and aarti, an annual festival to celebrate the Lord haven't been just private affairs of the family, but the pulse of the village. With their parents no more and their lives taking shape in the city, four brothers - Abba, Ramu, Jaggu and Naru have nothing much to tie them down to their ancestral house in the village. But worshipping the deity is a ritual that must go on. Therefore when Abba, the oldest and well-off among the brothers, decides to shift the Lord out of his abode & carry him to the city, his Aunt (Kaku) and the other brothers agree without much choice in the matter.
Slow but steady paced, the novella unfolds with the arrival of each of the four brothers in the village to carry the God away. As each one arrives, through their thoughts and conversations with their aunt & other villagers, the author paints a vivid character sketch of each one of them. He shows us how starkly different siblings can be. When the lure of better opportunities and more money is overpowering, there is very little to bind a person to his roots, points out the author through the siblings, of whom only Ramu cares for the village and their home while others are either indifferent or confused.
"As we grow older, we lose a little something from an earlier time. It remains with us only as a nostalgic memory."
“People say we live on our memories. But by and large memories are a pain. Remembering old sorrows clouds today's joys, remembering old joys intensifies today's sorrows"
First published in 1961, an earlier translation available by Pramod Kale, this new and lucid translation opens the classic that shows the clash between faith, tradition, modernity, pragmatism - a force that has transformed society since its origin, to a wider audience.
At the core of the narrative is the Joshi family that's been worshipping Lord Narahari for about 300 years. For 8 generations, daily prayers and aarti, an annual festival to celebrate the Lord haven't been just private affairs of the family, but the pulse of the village. With their parents no more and their lives taking shape in the city, four brothers - Abba, Ramu, Jaggu and Naru have nothing much to tie them down to their ancestral house in the village. But worshipping the deity is a ritual that must go on. Therefore when Abba, the oldest and well-off among the brothers, decides to shift the Lord out of his abode & carry him to the city, his Aunt (Kaku) and the other brothers agree without much choice in the matter.
Slow but steady paced, the novella unfolds with the arrival of each of the four brothers in the village to carry the God away. As each one arrives, through their thoughts and conversations with their aunt & other villagers, the author paints a vivid character sketch of each one of them. He shows us how starkly different siblings can be. When the lure of better opportunities and more money is overpowering, there is very little to bind a person to his roots, points out the author through the siblings, of whom only Ramu cares for the village and their home while others are either indifferent or confused.
"As we grow older, we lose a little something from an earlier time. It remains with us only as a nostalgic memory."
“People say we live on our memories. But by and large memories are a pain. Remembering old sorrows clouds today's joys, remembering old joys intensifies today's sorrows"
First published in 1961, an earlier translation available by Pramod Kale, this new and lucid translation opens the classic that shows the clash between faith, tradition, modernity, pragmatism - a force that has transformed society since its origin, to a wider audience.
February 17, 2025
This compact novel follows four brothers who come together at their childhood home in a village. What makes it interesting is how we get to see their different life paths - some have found success, others are still struggling, some married, others single. Through their conversations and thoughts, we see how each brother views their current life circumstances from where they stand today. Their visit brings out various perspectives about family, the past, and their relationships with each other and their old aunt.
The story, though a short read, felt somewhat dragged out in places. While the interactions between the brothers and their recollections of the past add different layers to the narrative, some parts seemed to roam without a clear purpose. I often found myself wondering about the point of certain passages and conversations. Though there might be deeper themes in the story, they weren't immediately apparent to me, making the overall experience less engaging than it could have been.
Those interested in slow-paced family dramas and stories about Indian family dynamics might find this book worth their time. However, readers looking for a more plot-driven narrative might want to look elsewhere.
The story, though a short read, felt somewhat dragged out in places. While the interactions between the brothers and their recollections of the past add different layers to the narrative, some parts seemed to roam without a clear purpose. I often found myself wondering about the point of certain passages and conversations. Though there might be deeper themes in the story, they weren't immediately apparent to me, making the overall experience less engaging than it could have been.
Those interested in slow-paced family dramas and stories about Indian family dynamics might find this book worth their time. However, readers looking for a more plot-driven narrative might want to look elsewhere.
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