LIKE a necklace of variegated pearls, each with its unique lustre, the twenty-three stories in this collection have a common thread holding them together - the unusual theme of the male as victim.
Some are written by names that need no introduction - Premchand, Rabindranath Tagore, and Sa'adat Hasan Manto - while others speaks in fresh, distinctive voices.
The Muffled Heart, with its startling insights into the plight of the disempowered male, questions conventional perspectives on the supposedly privileged gender of Indian patriarchal society.
About the Author:
Jayita Sengupta teaches English literature in South Calcutta Girl's College under Calcutta University. She has translated into English short stories of Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay. She is the editor of the journal Interactions and is also on the editorial board of Indian Journal of World Literature and Culture.
Niladri R. Chatterjee teaches English at the University of Kalyani. He has contributed to The Reader's Companion to Twentieth Century Writers, The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and The Isherwood Century.
Acknowledgements | IX |
Foreword | XI |
Introduction | XIII |
THE HOUSE WIFE by Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali,1991) | 1 |
Translated by Sipra Mukherjee | |
FATHER AND SONS by Lakshminath Bezbarua (Assamese, 1910) | 6 |
Translated by Nayana Sharma Mukherjee | |
JOBLESS by Jibanananda Das (Bengali, 1932) | 14 |
Translated by Abhijeet Paul | |
STEAM by Sa'adat Hasan Manto (Urdu, 1936) | 24 |
Translated by Daisy Rockwell | |
THE SHROUD by Premchand (Urdu,1936) | 34 |
Translated by P.Lal | |
DRESSING TABLE by Salil Chowdhury (Bengali, 1946) | 45 |
Translated by Mousumi Mukherjee | |
IN SEARCH OF ISMAIL SHEIKH by Homen Borgohain (Assamese, 1958) | 60 |
Translated by Nayana Sharma Mukherjee | |
NOTHING FEELS RIGHT by Mahendra Barthakur (Assamese, 1970) | 80 |
Translated by Sipra Mukherjee | |
SUDDEN DUSK by Sobodh Ghosh (Bengali, 1972) | 89 |
Translated by Niladri R. Chatterjee | |
DISTANCE by Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay (Bengali, 1972) | 99 |
Translated by Jayita Sengupta | |
SCHOOL REOPENS by Shrinivas Vinayak Kulkarni (Marathi, 1976) | 116 |
Translated by Vandana Alase Harza | |
THE COWARD by S. Krishnamoorthy (English, 1989) | 122 |
BALAJI AND THE TEACHER by Paavannan (Tamil, 1989) | 132 |
Translated by Palaniappa Subramanian | |
THE TOWEL by Gandharvan (Tamil, 1990) | 142 |
Translated by S. Krishnamoorthy | |
PUTULDI by Anis Rafi (Urdu, 1993) | 150 |
Translated by Kalim Hazique | |
BODY OFFERING by Makarand Paranjape (English, 1994) | 160 |
THE LETTER by Dhanuskodi Ramaswamy (Tamil, 1994) | 170 |
Translated by S. Krishnamoorthy | |
MALHAR by Asha Bage (Marathi, 1995) | 179 |
Translated by Vandana Alase Hazra | |
ONE-MAN-WAR by Chandrasekhar Rath (Oriya, 2001) | 211 |
Translated by Subhendu Mund | |
DRIES LEAVES ON THE THOROUGHFEAR by N. Mohannan (Malayalam, 2001) | 220 |
Translated by K. Madhavan | |
CROWS by Kamalakanta Mohapatra (Oriya, 2001) | 242 |
Translated by Ashok Mohapatra | |
A ROOM OF HIS OWN by Sanjukta Dasgupta (English, 2003) | 261 |
SIMULTANEOUS HARMONY by Sunrit Mullick (English, 2003) | 273 |
Biographical Notes | 285 |
Glossary | 301 |
LIKE a necklace of variegated pearls, each with its unique lustre, the twenty-three stories in this collection have a common thread holding them together - the unusual theme of the male as victim.
Some are written by names that need no introduction - Premchand, Rabindranath Tagore, and Sa'adat Hasan Manto - while others speaks in fresh, distinctive voices.
The Muffled Heart, with its startling insights into the plight of the disempowered male, questions conventional perspectives on the supposedly privileged gender of Indian patriarchal society.
About the Author:
Jayita Sengupta teaches English literature in South Calcutta Girl's College under Calcutta University. She has translated into English short stories of Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay. She is the editor of the journal Interactions and is also on the editorial board of Indian Journal of World Literature and Culture.
Niladri R. Chatterjee teaches English at the University of Kalyani. He has contributed to The Reader's Companion to Twentieth Century Writers, The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and The Isherwood Century.
Acknowledgements | IX |
Foreword | XI |
Introduction | XIII |
THE HOUSE WIFE by Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali,1991) | 1 |
Translated by Sipra Mukherjee | |
FATHER AND SONS by Lakshminath Bezbarua (Assamese, 1910) | 6 |
Translated by Nayana Sharma Mukherjee | |
JOBLESS by Jibanananda Das (Bengali, 1932) | 14 |
Translated by Abhijeet Paul | |
STEAM by Sa'adat Hasan Manto (Urdu, 1936) | 24 |
Translated by Daisy Rockwell | |
THE SHROUD by Premchand (Urdu,1936) | 34 |
Translated by P.Lal | |
DRESSING TABLE by Salil Chowdhury (Bengali, 1946) | 45 |
Translated by Mousumi Mukherjee | |
IN SEARCH OF ISMAIL SHEIKH by Homen Borgohain (Assamese, 1958) | 60 |
Translated by Nayana Sharma Mukherjee | |
NOTHING FEELS RIGHT by Mahendra Barthakur (Assamese, 1970) | 80 |
Translated by Sipra Mukherjee | |
SUDDEN DUSK by Sobodh Ghosh (Bengali, 1972) | 89 |
Translated by Niladri R. Chatterjee | |
DISTANCE by Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay (Bengali, 1972) | 99 |
Translated by Jayita Sengupta | |
SCHOOL REOPENS by Shrinivas Vinayak Kulkarni (Marathi, 1976) | 116 |
Translated by Vandana Alase Harza | |
THE COWARD by S. Krishnamoorthy (English, 1989) | 122 |
BALAJI AND THE TEACHER by Paavannan (Tamil, 1989) | 132 |
Translated by Palaniappa Subramanian | |
THE TOWEL by Gandharvan (Tamil, 1990) | 142 |
Translated by S. Krishnamoorthy | |
PUTULDI by Anis Rafi (Urdu, 1993) | 150 |
Translated by Kalim Hazique | |
BODY OFFERING by Makarand Paranjape (English, 1994) | 160 |
THE LETTER by Dhanuskodi Ramaswamy (Tamil, 1994) | 170 |
Translated by S. Krishnamoorthy | |
MALHAR by Asha Bage (Marathi, 1995) | 179 |
Translated by Vandana Alase Hazra | |
ONE-MAN-WAR by Chandrasekhar Rath (Oriya, 2001) | 211 |
Translated by Subhendu Mund | |
DRIES LEAVES ON THE THOROUGHFEAR by N. Mohannan (Malayalam, 2001) | 220 |
Translated by K. Madhavan | |
CROWS by Kamalakanta Mohapatra (Oriya, 2001) | 242 |
Translated by Ashok Mohapatra | |
A ROOM OF HIS OWN by Sanjukta Dasgupta (English, 2003) | 261 |
SIMULTANEOUS HARMONY by Sunrit Mullick (English, 2003) | 273 |
Biographical Notes | 285 |
Glossary | 301 |