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ISBN: 978-81-89934-24-8
Size: 9”x6”
Pages: 296
Price: Rs 350
Cover Design: Geeta Dharmarajan
Cover Painting: Syed Haider Raza
Line Drawings: Vivek Nityananda
Year of publishing: 2008

TRANSLATING POWER
Stories . Essays . Criticism

Edited by Saugata Bhaduri
Studies in Culture and Translation
A Katha classroom text

Academic essays and prize-winning short stories that explore the concept of power.

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Author: Mahadevi Varma
Translator: Neera Kuckreja Sohoni
81-87649-34-8
Price: 200
Pages: 152
Arpana Caur
Cover Design: Geeta Dharmarajan
2003

Links in the Chain

This collection, a part of Katha Studies in Culture and Translation Series, brings to the reader 11 incisive and insightful essays on the plight of the Indian woman. Recipient of the Padma Bhushan and Bharatiya Jnanpith Award, Mahadevi Varma is a celebrated Hindi poet. These essays offer a host of perspectives on the circumstantial obligations of Indian women.

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Various authors
81-89020-01-3
Price: 200
Pages: 208
Cover Painting: K S Radhakrishnan
Cover Design: Geeta Dharmarajan
2004

Storytellers at Work

A celebration of words. An explosion of ideas. The joy of storytelling. From writers, translators and philosophers to storytellers, filmmakers and economists — each of them wield the power of story to offer a glimpse into their art and craft, thoughts and ideas. Twenty one stimulating talks and essays that invite the reader to dip where they choose, to take the book's challenge where they please.

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Author: John D Smith
81-87649-83-6
Price: 250
Pages: 188
Cover painting: Srilal Josi
Cover Design: Geeta Dharmarajan

The Epic of Pabuji

Pabuji, a medieval Rajput hero from the deserts of Marwar, is widely worshipped as a folk-deity capable of protecting against ill fortune. The principal form of worship entails the night-long singing of Pabuji's deeds by bard-priests or bhopos. This takes place in front of a long painted cloth, or par, which functions as the temple of the deity and depicts those same deeds. This book chronicles the epic narrative in English free verse as well as interesting details about the words, the music and the par itself.

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Various authors
81-87649-33-X
Price: 295
Pages: 314
Cover painting: Paresh Maity
Cover Design: Geeta Dharmarajan
2002

Translating Desire

It is a stealthy silence that is challenged in an inspiring volume on sexuality in contemporary Indian culture. This anthology is a timely intervention that not only attempts to locate sex as a tangible truth in an Indian context but also inspires a hundred questions regarding hidden contours.

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Various authors
81-85586-48-9
Price: 195
Pages: 240
Cover Design: Geeta Dharmarajan
1996

The Wordsmiths

Here are 5 scintillating interviews that capture the magic and the mystery of the world of the contemporary Indian writer. U R Anantha Murthy, Bhupen Khakhar, Mahasweta Devi, Krishna Sobti and M T Vasudevan Nair offer insights into the art and craft of writing, share their hopes and fears and reveal that unique creative urge which makes their work what it is.

The Wordsmiths
The five translated writers featured in The Wordsmiths form an astonishing array of different levels of exploring mostly rural reality in an almost entirely rural way. U R Ananthamurthy’s “Mouni” is an unwinding of a feud and all virile emotions associated with it, the two adversaries being immigrant land-holders. The disturbing silence observed by the defeated one defeats the “winner.” It is almost suggestive of reality taking the shape one assumes it to have.

Mahasveta Devi’s “Arjun” lays bare socio-econo-political concerns and portrays the downtrodden lot of the tribals of Bengal. Set against the backdrop of the Naxalbari movement, it tears away the veil of exploitation and is a positive attempt of the tribals to assert their identity, rather than be dehumanised completely by the village powers-that-be. So the revolving door of prison imparts strength in the end. Mahasveta Devi is firmly ensconced in tradition alongwith the parallel thread of enlightening modernity. However, she yet firmly stands by the energy imparted by fables, folklore, riddles, rituals, death rites. It is a treasure trove of wisdom for her, and this has been effectively communicated. Relatedly, once exhausted on a walk with tribals, thinking she would die, the tribals promised to get “big boulders” for her grave – the ultimate tribute.

Bhupen Khakhar, a self-professed homosexual, writes about the possession neurosis by leading an insular life (read village life). However, in the village even the apparently otherwise petty takes on major proportions. “Vadki” does exactly that – a tale of a housewife obsessed with her small home world of possessions, set against a domineering husband who even rations sex and swears by childlessness (an excruciating situation for the lady of the house).

Editor Meenakshi Sharma’s selection is truly outstanding. The interviews with Sobti and Ananthamurthy get practically down to brass tacks. The wellspring of creativity is shown in the clear light of day. The interviews with Mahasveta Devi, Khakhar are in-depth explorations of the much microscopically examined “creativity urge.” All the contributors deserve kudos for laying bare their concerns. A good read indeed.

—The Hindustan Times, April 1997

Wordsmiths is one more success story of Katha, the Delhi-based publishing house, which broke fresh ground five years ago with its annual event, the Katha Prize Stories, a compilation of English translations of the best short stories of the year culled from major Indian languages. It is ventures like Katha by Geeta Dharmarajan’s able team, and Sahitya Akademi’s journal of “Indian Literature,” steered by writer/poet K Satchidanandan which have injected fresh energy to this neglected genre.

There is another black hole of Indian Literature in the absence of academic rigour and total disinterest in the mass media, namely the “magical” existence of writers in our imagination. For instance, even for the bulk of our serious readers, MT Vasudevan Nair – recipient of the highest award in Indian literature, the Jnanpith – would be a stranger. Some might have read translations of his stories. But few would have learnt more about his concerns, methods or conceptual paradigms through the vacuous “interviews” in mainstream media, which conceal rather than reveal the writer.

Enter Wordsmiths. Edited by Meenakshi Sharma, it comprises exhaustive interviews with five contemporary heavyweights – MT Vasudevan Nair (Malayalam), Mahasveta Devi (Bengali), UR Ananthamurthy (Kannada), Krishna Sobti (Hindi) and Bhupen Khakhar (Gujarati). The inclusion of select translations of their fictional and non-fictional works and bio-sketches give a rounded feel to a venture exciting enough to be hailed as the ‘future’ of Indian publishing and a laudable act of bridge-building.

—Sadanand Menon

This delightful collection from Katha is an introduction to five major contemporary writers: UR Ananthamurthy, Bhupen Khakhar, Krishna Sobti, Mahasveta Devi and MT Vasudevan Nair. Each writer comes in the form of an interview, a translated work and an extract of his/her critical writing thus providing the reader with a fairly comprehensive portrait of the writer.

What strikes you is that these are not just craftsmen of exceptional literary works but formidable thinkers as well – which is also a tribute to the skill of the interviews. Murthy’s discourse on the shabdasutka for instance or the revelation of his Brahminical mind (used here in the widest sense of the word) is stimulating reading. Equally stimulating is painter Khakhar’s revelation as a writer and his refusal to take himself seriously. His story “Vadki” in fact is quite the most charming piece in the collection.

Sobti’s extract from Ai Ladki is a moving account of a daughter watching her mother die. The querulous tones of the old lady are placed delicately alongside the daughter’s patient voice. It is interesting to hear Sobti unfold her knots in an interview that captures her zest of life.

Devi is arguably the greatest living Bengali writer; a woman wholly committed to the world of tribals and who has been studied by the greatest living deconstructionists of all – Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak. It is refreshing to find that behind that politically correct exterior beats a heart that can laugh at its reputation. The last interview is with a man who has become a legend in his own lifetime – M T Vasudevan Nair. “Before I sit down to write,” he says at one point, “I always ask myself: is it necessary to write this?”

If you have wished to find out what is happening in regional literature this is a fine book to start with. It does not matter that sometimes the names are not easy to remember, that you keep forgetting what a vadki or uralppura is. At the end of each story there is a sense of oneness with the author and pride that there is in every part of India a living tradition of creative energy.  

—Ira Pande, India Today, June 1996

Since its inception over seven years ago, Katha has been active in promoting a wider awareness of the rich texture of our regional literature. Although initially Katha concentrated on English translations of carefully selected short fiction from various Indian languages, Wordsmiths is, by far, a more ambitious venture, in that it also give us an overall view of the influences that shape our contemporary literature.

Why do writers write and what energises the creative urges that inspire their works? How do they respond to the tool of language and use it to set their imagination free? Do they feel they have a special responsibility to society and if so, what is the price they have to pay to carry it out? U R Ananthamurthy, Bhupen Khakhar, Krishna Sobti, Mahasveta Devi and M T Vasudevan Nair, five pre-eminent writers from different parts of the country, who write primarily in their respective mother tongues, reflect on their aims, aspirations and preoccupations and share with us, through the pages of Wordsmiths, their distinctive observations on issues such as these.

The book has been cleverly structured to portray the writers and their work in a broader context – we have a short story and an essay by each writer supplemented by a brief introduction, an interview and his/her curriculum vitae – and offers us wide-ranging insights into the nuances of the creative process and the stimulation of confronting the unexpected ...

Wordsmiths is an excellent introduction to Indian writing that encompasses many areas – geographical, cultural, rural and urban. Notwithstanding the opinion of critics like Leavis who contend that anything a writer has to say is found in his or her work, the comments of writers on life and literature help us understand better how they write out of the flux of a changing society, as also the complexities of their “urge to explore, experiment and reinvent society.”

—Veena Seshadri, Indian Review of Books, March 16 – April 15, 1997

Word as Mantra: the art of Raja Rao
In an illuminating introduction to the anthology, the editor of The Best of Raja Rao, Makarand Paranjape provides certain perspectives that enhance the understanding of the otherwise complex works of Raja Rao ... Except for the excerpts from the novels, the book includes complete texts of representative shorter texts like the stories “Companions,” “India - A Fable” and “The Policeman and the Rose.” The selection actually reveals what is quintessential in Raja Rao in terms of style, technique, form and theme.

Word as Mantra: The Art of Raja Rao is a collection of essays ... [which] comprises recent scholarship on Raja Rao by distinguished scholars ... The two books ... complement each other and are a good initiation for readers and scholars concerned with a search for meaning in life.         

—Alka Tyagi, The Asian Age, January 24, 1999

... a judicious mix of vintage Raja Rao ...  Makarand Paranjape, self-confessed worshipper of the writer and his writings, seems to have deployed adequate discipline in making the selection. In his introduction he has sought to interpret and analyse Rao’s writings from a fresh perspective, which not only adds hitherto unseen dimensions but also provides introspective meaning. The selection, it seems, in some unintended way, draws attention to Raja Rao’s short stories ...

Paranjape rightly senses the valiant attempt as a deliberate departure from the famous tyle and concern in “Comrade Kirillov,” probably the least understood and read work by Raja Rao and the shortest of his narratives ... Makarand Paranjape must be complimented for making this remarkable selection, the reading of which will expose the reader to the world of the author because his “sweep is so staggering, Rao delves into almost the whole of Indian history, from the invasion of the Aryans to the advent of British rule.” A must for any student of Indian English writing, and an admirer of Raja Rao.

— Suresh Kohli, The Hindu, Sunday, March 7, 1999

The Word as Mantra brings together the art of Raja Rao.

—The Pioneer, Saturday, December 26, 1998

... it is a Katha Classic endeavour, a sincere and well-researched compilation with an extensive and intensive introduction ... All ... the excerpts in this compilation reveal snatches of ... brilliance ... as an introduction to more in depth reading, the compilation is a laudable effort.                                   

—The Statesman, Monday, January 25, 1999

This is a collection of some outstanding international scholarship on Raja Rao. The book offers a range of critical and personal perspectives on Rao.

—The Pioneer, Saturday, December 19, 1998

Mr Sharada Prasad, who released the book Raja Rao - A Katha Classic, brought by Sahitya Akademi and Katha to coincide with the author’s ninetieth birthday, described the book as “the best tribute to one of India’s best writers in English.”

—The Hindu, Tuesday, November 10, 1998

Ismat: her life, her times
This is a fun and imaginative book. As a concept it’s wonderful-literary criticism, biography and autobiography, with lots of photos, box items and memorabilia – a real guide book to Ismat Chughtai, one of Urdu’s great modern writers and script/story writer of a bevy of Hindi films, particularly the moving Balraj Sahani starrer about Partition, Garam Hawa.

To recreate her times, Katha’s editors have brought together all her “set” at a period when being a writer was truly exciting, when it mattered, when, and many of them were, of course, communists, and thought they could change society. The contributors read like a who’s who of mdoern Urdu writing – there’s Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Sadat Hasan Manto, Krishan Chander and Qurratulain Hyder Commenting on Ismat.

— Gillian Wright, India Today: April 3, 2000

And for the first time in English a book – Ismat: Her Life, Her Times – puts a writer’s career and preoccupation in perspective. Laced with anecdotes, it is primarily a collection of essays by the writer herself and by fellow authors and critics. The book helps us see Chughtai’s life and work in its context and tradition; the life she led and the culture she hailed from.               

—Avijit Ghosh, The Telegraph: Sunday 12 December, 1999

Ismat: Her Life, Her Times is a tribute to Ismat Apa. First in a series of Katha’s  Approaches. To Literature in Translation, it attempts to put a writer’s entire body of work in its correct socio-cultural, political and historical perspective. Edited by Sukrita Paul Kumar and Sadique, this volume contains extracts from Ismat’s ouvre, family photographs and memorabilia.

—Rakhshanda Jalal, The Hindu: May 21, 2000

Sadly, in this haze of cultural laments another trend is overlooked. The last decade has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the translation industry, making works of repute available to an over swelling readership. Probing a lazy obsession with celebrityhood is beyond the scope of this review, but books like Ismat offer a welcome counterpoint to literary pessimism. The first of a series planned in Katha’s Approaches to Literature in Translation series, aimed at putting India’s non-English literary heritage in perspective.

—Mini Kapoor, The Express Magazine: April 9, 2000

The overall impression of the books is positive and encouraging. Urdu died because it could not provide a living for even its master writers like Ghalib, Majaaz and ‘Firaq.’ Perhaps the retelling of Ismat in English will help keep her – and thus something in Urdu – alive in some small and obscure way, Here’s hoping.

—Akhilesh Mittal, The Hindustan Times: June 4, 2000

Sketches from Memory
A compelling narrative, unexpectedly humorous… draws an outstanding self-portrait ... a sociological and literary masterpiece. 

—The Hindu

Upendranath Ashk
Iconoclast. Antagonist. Misfit. ... this powerful biography presents the many faces of Ashk and his tumultuous life and times, the literary history of Hindi and the Hindi-Urdu divide.