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Author: Meena Kakodkar
ISBN 978-81-87649-65-6
Size: 8.25”x6”
Pages: 40
Price: 65
2008

Bhiku ki Diary

Come, peek into Bhiku's diary and catch a glimpse of his life. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. A simple tale as lucid as life.

Meena Kakodkar has authored two collections of short stories and  a full-length play for children. Her work has been well received and she is the recipient of a number of literary awards, including the  Sahitya Akademi Award, 1991; and the Katha Award for Creative Writing, 1993; the Goa Government Yashodamini Award, 2002. She is actively involved in promoting performing arts and culture and as a social activist is a trustee of the Goa Animal Welfare Trust. She retired recently from the Goa state government.

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Author: Manoj
ISBN 978-81-87649-79-3
Size: 8.25”x6”
Pages: 40
Price: 65
2008

Curfew

Away from home and family, a soldier's life is full of hardships, and a soldier is harsh. But somewhere inside him hides a child, a father, a human being. A simple, poignant story.

Manoj, a doctor by profession, has written more than fifty short stories for radio and for magazines, thirty of which have been published in the original and as translations.

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Author: Jayant Kaikini
ISBN 978-81-87649-46-5
Size: 8.25”x6”
Pages: 40
Price: 65
2008

Dagadu Parab ka Aswamedh

Mounted on a willful, whimsical mare, Dagadu, the unwilling bridegroom sets off to marry. But little does he know that fate will take him on such a merry ride. A hilariously ironic, surreal suburban tale. 

Jayant Kaikini is a bio-chemist currently resident in Bombay. He has published three anthologies of poetry, and an equal number of anthologies of short stories. He won the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award thrice; for his powtry in 1974; and for his short stories in 1982 and 1989. ‘Dagadu Parabana Ashvamedha is from the collection of the same title (1989). It was first published in Karmaveera, Deepavali issue, 1987.

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Author: Ram Swaroop Kisan
ISBN 978-81-89934-17-0
Size: 8.25”x6”
Pages: 40
Price: 65
2008

Dalal

Tansukh was a cattle broker, and a wily one at that. But somewhere inside him, his trade pricked his conscience. And when he got one chance to amend his wrongs, to do something worthwhile, what did he do? Come, read and find out.

Ram Swaroop Kisan writes in both Rajasthani and Hindi. His poems have been translated into Hindi and other languages. His collection of poems and stories in Hindi are Gaon ki Gali-Gali, and Bapu and Other Stories, respectively. Many of his works have been appeared on Akashvaani and Doordarshan. He received the Choudhary Ranbir Singh Memorial Award in 1997.

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Author: Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyaya
ISBN 978-81-89934-18-7
Size: 8.25”x6”
Pages: 40
Price: 65
2008

Padak

Sometimes, it seems as if the whole thing was just a dream, a figment of my imagination. But then again I think, no, I did really see him, I did experience it – that nameless fear, that terrible urge I could neither fathom, nor control ...

BIBHUTI BHUSHAN BANDOPADHYAYA would be a hundred and five years old if he were alive today! The son of a poor temple priest, his early life was a struggle. Despite that he studied extensively and acquired a degree in law and an MA from Calcutta University. He has been a teacher, a publicity agent, an estate manager and also the editor of Chitralekha, probably the first film magazine in Bangla.

A prolific writer, Bibhuti Bhushan is known the world over as the creator of Apu and Durga in Pather Panchali, the film that catapulted Satyajit Ray to fame.

Yuvakatha (Hindi)

Just as we were beginning to tire of the strict political correctness that puts storytelling in second place, Katha is back with that rare commodity – stories in Hindi that will make kids want to turn the page themselves. Sadly, for many urban English-speaking kids, Hindi is read only as a school chore. Katha’s new set of Yuvakatha books could help to change more minds. Written by authors as varied as Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyaya, Ambai and Sanjay Khati, the collection showcases writers from different parts of India. Two of these stories – “Jalebian” and “Pinti ka Sabun” particularly touch a chord. “Jalebian” by Pakistani writer Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi is about a young boy giving in to the temptations of spending his school fees on crisp and sticky jalebis. “Pinti ka Sabun” is about a young boy in Kumaon who accidentally wins a race and is given a cake of soap as a prize. This unusual object in the tiny Himalayan village makes him the envy of family and friends. Told with a light hand, the story takes us through these changing everyday relationships through which the boy learns about love and loss.

Keeping Katha’s focus on using stories in an educative way, the books have been designed to encourage reading and learning. Suggestions for interactive classroom exercises and the meanings of difficult words that appear in the stories are included at the bottom of the page. There are some minor production errors with some of these appearing on the wrong pages, but that’s really a small detail. More importantly, why must words like honhaar in an Urdu story be translated into pratishthavaan in Hindustani?

—Timeout, Mumbai and Delhi